Arshak Hakobyan Accused of Money Laundering; Pre-Trial Investigation Completed

According to the Anti-Corruption Committee, the pre-trial investigation into the criminal case has established that Arshak Hakobyan, who served in the Ministry of Defense from 1997 to 2011 and held the positions of Deputy Head of the 4th Department and Head of the 5th Department of the Police's organized crime prevention unit from 2011 to 2018, illegally participated in entrepreneurial activities during his public service, engaging in other corrupt activities. As a result, he concealed and distorted the criminal origin and ownership of property acquired through illegal means, giving it a legal appearance.

The report states: “In particular, the pre-investigation revealed that between 2008 and 2010, Hakobyan acquired 100% of the shares of the 'Urbanism-Petrol' LLC and, legally registering it under the name of a woman who did not engage in entrepreneurial activities in any sector and her minor son, he actually participated in the management of the company through them. To conceal the true nature and criminal origin of funds obtained through this and other alleged illegal activities, Hakobyan acquired real estate in Abovyan, Kotayk Province, worth 75 million AMD in 2011, while the sale contract stated a fictitious value of 3 million AMD.

Additionally, in 2012 and 2013, he acquired properties on Amiryan and Republic streets in Yerevan for 120 million AMD and 204 million 250 thousand AMD, respectively, and in 2014 he acquired 100% of the shares of 'OVSAS' LLC for 144 million 375 thousand AMD. Aware that the values of these properties significantly exceed the legal incomes of him and his family members, Hakobyan transferred them to family members and close associates through donation and fictitious sales contracts, thus concealing the true ownership of property obtained through criminal means.

Thus, it has been established that Hakobyan legalized large quantities of property acquired through criminal means, worth 351 million 497 thousand 422 AMD and 75 million AMD. Moreover, Hakobyan, who effectively performed the functions of the head of the security service of former Police Chief Vahe Ghazaryan, in a group with Ghazaryan, legalized property purchased with large quantities of money acquired through criminal means between 2013 and 2014 by hiding and distorting the source, rights, and ownership of the property.

In particular, Vahe Ghazaryan, who held the position of the Chief of Police and was obliged to submit a declaration, instructed Hakobyan to purchase vehicles from 'Avangard Motors' LLC and register them in Hakobyan's name to hide the criminal origin of the funds used for the purchase of the said vehicles. To this end, Hakobyan acquired vehicles of 'Mercedes-Benz G 500' and 'Mercedes-Benz S 500L' from the aforementioned company for 71 million 556 thousand AMD and 80 million 200 thousand AMD respectively in 2013 and 2014, registering them in his name and concealing the criminal origin and actual ownership of the amount of 151 million 756 thousand AMD paid for them.

Furthermore, the pre-trial investigation has also established that Hakobyan deliberately did not include and concealed the amount of a 100,000 USD loan granted to him by one of the banks on August 23, 2017, in his annual declaration submitted to the Ethics Committee of High-Ranking Officials of Armenia on March 22, 2018, which led to the non-declaration of the aforementioned properties.

Based on the aforementioned, charges have been brought against Hakobyan under the first part of the third section of Article 190 of the previous Criminal Code (2 episodes of money laundering) and under Article 314.3, part 2 (concealment of information subject to declaration). The pre-trial investigation concerning Hakobyan has been completed. The materials of the case have been sent to the supervising prosecutor with a request for approval and for forwarding to the court.