63-Year-Old Woman Collaborates with 4 Individuals to Embezzle Large Sum

The investigation into a case involving a group of individuals using computing technology to embezzle a large sum of money, as well as organizing illegal migration for several citizens through forged documents, has been completed.

According to the information obtained by the investigative department of the Cybercrime and High-Tech Crime Investigation of the Investigative Committee of Armenia, it has been established that a 63-year-old woman from Yerevan, upon learning from acquaintances, including men aged 24 and 63, about the potential to embezzle money through bank cards of individuals residing abroad using computer technology, conspired with them and other unidentified individuals.

The woman, under the pretext of providing tourist services through a company she founded and practically managed, acquired a "POS" terminal intended for cashless payments from one of the banks in Yerevan on November 12, 2019. Utilizing the computer skills of the 24-year-old man, they received the card details of five cardholders from HSBC bank in Hong Kong via the WhatsApp application sent by an unidentified person. This information was entered into the aforementioned "POS" terminal, resulting in the transfer of a particularly large amount of 21,350,000 AMD to the company's bank account from November 19 to November 22, 2019.

On November 21, 2019, the 63-year-old woman and the 24-year-old man visited the bank and withdrew 6,200,000 AMD in cash from the account, of which 600,000 AMD was handed over to the 24-year-old man. After the suspicious transaction, the bank froze the company’s mentioned account, preventing them from withdrawing the remaining 15,150,000 AMD.

In addition, the woman, as the director of a travel agency, had reached preliminary agreements with two different individuals between 2016 and 2019 to organize the illegal exit of a woman of Armenian descent from Syria and her entry into the French Republic through fake visas from "Schengen Agreement" countries. She demanded and received a total of 6,500 euros, equivalent to 3,309,800 AMD, from the first individual during 2016-2017, and from the second, she received 1,200 USD in cash, equivalent to 570,300 AMD. Subsequently, under preliminary agreements, a Schengen visa from the French embassy in the UAE and a fake Schengen visa from Slovenia were prepared. However, the crimes were not completed as the falsification of the documents was discovered and reported to law enforcement agencies.

During the criminal proceedings, it was also revealed that an individual already cooperating with the 63-year-old woman from Montenegro had arranged with another man close to her residing in Armenia to organize the exit of another female citizen from Armenia and her entry into the Federal Republic of Germany with a fake Schengen visa. In November 2019, the resident of Armenia demanded and received 3,500 euros in cash, equivalent to 1,859,060 AMD, from the girl’s uncle. Later that month, he transferred the girl from Armenia to Georgia, from where they traveled together to Tirana, the capital of the Republic of Albania, via Turkey. Shortly after, a fake visa was prepared for the girl, which she received from the individual residing in Montenegro. However, when entering North Macedonia from Albania, law enforcement discovered the falsity of the visa/document, leading to the girl’s arrest.

Based on sufficient evidence, the 63-year-old woman has been charged under Part 3, Point 1 of the 181st article of the former Criminal Code of Armenia, Section 3, Point 2 of 34-329.1, and Part 1 of Article 325 (2 episodes). The other two individuals involved in the alleged crime have been charged under Part 3, Point 1 of Article 181, while another two have been charged under Part 3, Point 2 of 34-329.1. A travel restriction measure has been chosen for them. The materials concerning the five defendants have been separated into a separate proceeding, which has been completed, and the criminal case has been sent to court with an accusatory conclusion.