VIDEO: Ashotyan Arrested for Violating Pre-Trial Restrictions

Armen Ashotyan, serving as the chairman of the board of trustees of the "Yerevan State Medical University after Mkhitar Heratsi" foundation and the Minister of Education and Science of Armenia, has been implicated in encouraging the rector of the foundation, Mikael Narimanyan, to abuse his official powers. As a result, the foundation suffered significant property damage amounting to a total of 38,658,200 AMD. This has been established through investigative actions carried out by the main investigative department of the RA Investigative Committee and extensive joint operations conducted with employees of the National Security Service of Armenia.

Furthermore, Ashotyan has organized the embezzlement of 185,606,000 AMD collected from the membership fees of the trade union of the "Yerevan State Medical University after Mkhitar Heratsi." Specifically, on April 26, 2014, he was reappointed as the Minister of Education and Science by a presidential decree. He was elected chairman of the board of trustees of the foundation on April 17, 2015. Later, on May 18, the employees of the foundation established the "Heraci" trade union, with Ashotyan's close associate Marta Simonyan elected as its president. On June 8, 2015, Narimanyan was elected as the rector of the university by the board of trustees.

According to Clause 1 of Subclause 46 of the foundation’s charter, approved by the government, Narimanyan was authorized to manage the university's property, including financial resources, and to enter into contracts of up to 20,000,000 AMD or the equivalent in other currencies without the approval of the board of trustees for contracts exceeding this amount.

After Ashotyan’s election as chairman of the board of trustees, while concurrently serving as the Minister of Education and Science, he urged Narimanyan to purchase construction rights for two apartments directly from the "Zovasar" hotel complex owned by his acquaintance Ishkhan Saghatelyan without organizing a procurement process and without the board’s approval. This resulted in a memorandum of understanding being signed with Simonyan, the head of the same organization, turning 185,606,000 AMD held in the social support fund into the property of the "Heraci" trade union, and subsequently using that money to acquire the rights to four apartments and one hall from the "Zovasar" hotel complex.

He organized the laundering of these criminally obtained funds, giving them a legal appearance and involving them in legal circulation. Narimanyan, taking advantage of Ashotyan's patronage, signed preliminary agreements on May 15, 2015, to purchase construction rights for two apartments in the Gegharkunik region without the board's approval.

These transactions resulted in significant property damage of 38,658,200 AMD to the university.

On June 15, 2023, a decision was made to initiate criminal proceedings against Armen Ashotyan under various articles of the RA former criminal code. During the criminal proceedings, a restriction of absence was imposed on Ashotyan. However, subsequent secret investigative actions revealed that Ashotyan violated the conditions of this restriction and obstructed the criminal proceeding by illegally interfering in the evidentiary process.

He was arrested on June 15, 2023, under Article 112 of the RA Criminal Procedure Code for violating the conditions of pre-trial restrictions. A motion has been submitted to the court for his detention. The investigation continues.