908 Million Drams Stolen from Surb Grigor Lusavorich Medical Center: Public Criminal Prosecution Initiated

A public criminal prosecution has been initiated against two individuals aiding the former director of the Surb Grigor Lusavorich Medical Center, A.M., following the discovery of apparent abuses related to financial misappropriation amounting to 908 million drams. This decision was made on May 12, 2023, by the supervising prosecutor, according to the official website of the Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia.

It is worth noting that during the preliminary investigation of the criminal case, the former director A.M. was charged on November 29, 2022, under Article 179 (part 3, paragraph 1) of the Criminal Code adopted on April 18, 2003, for particularly large-scale misappropriation or wastage, along with charges under Articles 325 (part 2) for falsifying documents, 38-325 for aiding in falsifications, and 214 (part 2) for abuse of authority by officials of commercial or other organizations.

On May 12, 2023, the supervising prosecutor extended the public criminal prosecution to T.G., the deputy head of the adult polyclinic, and A.M., the head of the service responsible for processing state order documents. These individuals face charges under Article 38-178 (part 3, paragraph 1) for aiding in particularly large-scale fraud and under Article 325 (part 2) for falsifying documents, stamps, seals, or forms.

The investigation has revealed that T.G., who has been serving as the deputy head of the adult polyclinic since 2004, aided the fraudulent embezzlement of 908 million drams in collusion with A.M. and other staff from May 2014 to September 2017.

On May 12, 2023, the supervising prosecutor forwarded the decisions on initiating public criminal prosecution to the Investigative Committee for the purpose of presenting new charges to the defendants in accordance with Article 190 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

It is noteworthy that the individual in question is likely Ara Minasyan, the father of the Armenian ambassador to the Vatican, Mikael Minasyan, who has been at the helm of this medical institution for many years.

Note: A person charged with a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in accordance with the procedure established by the Criminal Procedure Code with a legally binding court verdict.