Alexander Sargsyan Paid $27.5 Million to Armenia and Artsakh, ‘50 Percent Stake’ Criminal Cases Nonexistent: ‘Azatutyun’

Alexander Sargsyan, the brother of former President Serzh Sargsyan, paid the state 3.5 billion drams or about 7 million dollars as part of a criminal case initiated after the revolution, a year and a half ago. According to the Office of the Prosecutor General, this amount was paid by Sargsyan as compensation for damages caused by criminal offenses, fines, and penalties. This is why there has been no criminal prosecution against Sargsyan.

According to the prosecutor's office, the criminal case against Sargsyan was initiated on allegations of maliciously avoiding payment of taxes, fees, or other mandatory payments, which carries a penalty of 5 to 10 years in prison with asset confiscation. Law enforcement agencies have apparently not continued the prosecution precisely because Sargsyan voluntarily paid the taxes he had concealed in due time.

“He used to say, well, they will ask where Sashik's 50 percent is. I say, where is it? Serzh Sargsyan's brother, Sashik Sargsyan, has 30 million dollars in a single bank in Armenia, and all that money is frozen,” Prime Minister Pashinyan mentioned a few months after the 2018 revolution.

The Prosecutor General's Office states that besides the 7 million dollars, Sargsyan has donated an additional 20.5 million dollars to the Armed Forces of Artsakh and the soldiers' foundation. Thus, Alexander Sargsyan has paid a total of 27.5 million dollars.

In response to ‘Azatutyun’’s inquiry, the Prosecutor General's Office only points to two criminal cases related to Sargsyan. There is no mention of long-standing claims regarding the alleged 50 percent stake in various businesses, which was also discussed by former opposition MP Nikol Pashinyan during his time in parliament.

Human rights defender Zaruhie Hovhannisyan believes that Pashinyan's team did not fulfill the public’s expectations in this regard. “In reality, such bombastic unsubstantiated statements are very often not proven in the law enforcement sphere or within the framework of criminal cases. Some monetary compensation allows people to be released, creating the impression that these claims were simply unfounded, or the law enforcement system did not conduct a proper investigation or gather sufficient evidence. In either case, we are dealing with either exaggerated approaches by those in power or shortcomings by the law enforcement agency,” said the human rights defender.

In addition to the tax evasion case, Sargsyan was also accused of fraud in the case involving the line drawings of Martiros Saryan. According to law enforcement, it was Sargsyan's son, Narek Sargsyan, who abused the trust of Saryan's heir, taking drawings worth 280 thousand dollars, promising to pay 28 thousand dollars in return, while planning to co-found a casino and sponsor its activities with the remaining money. After acquiring the drawings, Sargsyan did not fulfill his promise. This case has also been closed due to lack of criminal composition, reports the Prosecutor General's Office.

It turns out that the Sargsyans did not commit a crime by keeping the works of the renowned artist in their apartment on Tumanyan Street in the capital. However, in July 2018, the National Security Service searched the Sargsyans' residence for about nine hours, after which Alexander Sargsyan was taken to the National Security Service. It was from that residence that Saryan's drawings were discovered. The artist’s works were transferred to the National Gallery, but they are now back in their old place—Sargsyans’ residence.