New Criminal Acts of Large Scale Extortion and Money Laundering by Artak Galstyan

In the course of the criminal proceedings conducted by the Investigative Committee of Armenia, new circumstances regarding large-scale extortion, fraud, and money laundering committed by Artak Galstyan, the leader of the "Public Voice" party, have been revealed.

The Investigative Committee reports: "As previously communicated, Artak Galstyan and Vardan Ghukasyan, both leaders of the "Public Voice" party, acting in preliminary agreement, attempted to extort 110,000 USD, equivalent to 53,806,500 AMD, from T.A. through threats to publish defamatory information damaging to his rights or legal interests, via a phone call in March 2022. After receiving a negative response from T.A., V. Ghukasyan executed the threats imposed by himself and Artak Galstyan by publishing defamatory information about T.A. and his wife several times on his personal page on the youtube.com website during 2022-2023.

Additionally, A. Galstyan conspired with S. Sargsyan, the founder and director of a law firm, and H. Khachatryan, under the guise of providing legal assistance for a custody case regarding a citizen's daughter, managed to fraudulently obtain 5,122,150 AMD from S. Sargsyan through partial cash transfers and other means from April 2021 to March 2023, causing significant material damage.

Artak Galstyan and Hayk Khachatryan, in agreement, made false promises to K.A. that a payment of 8,000,000 AMD would lead to the return of both his investment of 34,000 USD in a food establishment in the city of Hrazdan and the aforementioned amount through V. Ghukasyan's public disclosure online. K.A. communicated the contents of their conversation to his close associate S.A. and introduced him to Hayk Khachatryan.

Subsequently, on June 23, 2022, H. Khachatryan signed a loan agreement concerning the repayment of 8,000,000 AMD in two months with S.A., and the next day received the cash, heading to the "Public Voice" party's office with K.A. There, on A. Galstyan's instructions, H. Khachatryan handed over 6,000,000 AMD of the illicit funds to a legal professional present, while retaining 2,000,000 AMD for himself, intending to transfer 1,000,000 AMD to V. Ghukasyan.

In the following days, to create the illusion of fulfilling the promises made, Vardan Ghukasyan commented on the aforementioned issues in his broadcasts. However, members of the criminal group undertook no steps to resolve K.A.'s property issues, fraudulently seizing 8,000,000 AMD from him.

During the pre-investigation proceedings, extensive investigative and procedural actions led to the acquisition of new evidence that A. Galstyan, along with S. Sargsyan of the law firm and H. Khachatryan, had reached a preliminary agreement to conceal and distort the criminal origin of 6,000,000 AMD intended for theft from S.A.

To this end, under the guise of providing legal defense for H. Khachatryan, on June 23, 2022, a formal service contract was executed with the director of the law firm for 6,000,000 AMD in exchange for S. Sargsyan's nominal representation.

It was also revealed that Artak Galstyan, in collaboration with K. and L. Ghukasyan and V. Ghukasyan, made extortion demands from Sh.B. in September 2022, threatening to publish defamatory information about him and his close relatives.

Specifically, in the autumn of 2022, K. Ghukasyan, having learned about Sh.B.'s upcoming marriage, attempted to extort money for an apartment by threatening to release wedding photographs online if he refused. After being refused, K. Ghukasyan shared the photographs with Vardan Ghukasyan, who insulted Sh.B. with sexual slurs in his social media broadcasts.

To resolve the situation, at Sh.B.'s request, a meeting with Artak Galstyan was organized at the "Public Voice" party office, where he set forth a demand to purchase 3 to 4 apartments equivalent to 500,000 USD. Following negotiations, A. Galstyan reduced the amount to a demand for 100,000 USD, equivalent to 38,817,000 AMD. Feeling threatened, Sh.B. sold his Ford Mustang and informed A. Galstyan of his decision via phone.

A. Galstyan then sent him K. Ghukasyan's bank account number for payment, yet continued to insist on receiving the money in cash, attempting to conceal the funds' illegal origin.

On March 4, 2023, at the "Public Voice" party office, Sh.B. handed over 15,000 USD in cash as part of the 100,000 USD required. Aware of the illegal nature of the funds received, A. Galstyan prepared a document named 'Settlement Agreement', stipulating that Sh. B. would pay 15,000 USD to K. Ghukasyan and commit to an additional 85,000 USD later in exchange for abandoning a legal claim.

The parties signed this document, concealing the true nature and source of the illegally obtained funds. A. Galstyan then transferred 2,800 USD from this amount to K. Ghukasyan and his sister.

Based on new evidence, the charges against A. Galstyan have been modified, and he has been charged under several articles of the Armenian Criminal Code for multiple offenses. Charges against several other individuals involved in this case have also been added.

It is noted that the investigation continues.