26-Year-Old Gyumri Resident Embezzles Over 315 Million AMD

A 26-year-old resident of Gyumri has embezzled a total of more than 315 million AMD from various individuals through deceitful means. This was reported by the press service of the Investigative Committee of Armenia.

Back in May 2019, a resident of Yerevan, S.D., filed a complaint stating that he started a partnership in October 2018 with a businessman identified as S.K. The latter was supposed to procure mining devices, which would yield profit for both of them, however, S.K. embezzled a significant amount of money from S.D.

The investigation revealed that the young man carried out systematic fraud, but the chain of deceit was uncovered. Under the pretext of generating profit, S.K. proposed to S.D. and several other individuals to purchase mining devices, supposedly capable of being sold in a relevant cryptocurrency exchange. For about a year, he fraudulently obtained a total of 315,788,602 AMD from these individuals.

The 26-year-old assured the director of the company that he was personally involved in the importation of these devices and to instill confidence, showed transaction amounts received in his bank account on his phone. Subsequently, he offered the businessman to acquire an 'Antminer Z9 mini' device for 2,400 USD, claiming it could generate a monthly profit of 280,000 AMD.

S.D. agreed, after which the young man presented a metal-clad device as the 'Antminer Z9 mini' a month later, suggesting it be installed at a factory supposedly owned by his father, which did not actually exist.

Later on, the young man suggested purchasing dozens of other devices, for which he received a total of 811,000 USD in cash and transfers, both in lumps and in parts. Initially, he transferred 25,949,232 AMD back to S.D. as income to avoid losing his trust.

Subsequently, S.K. failed to fulfill his obligations, providing devices with significantly lower specifications instead of about 40 high-quality and profitable devices, embezzling an additional 13,468,763 AMD from them. The young man later learned that the businessman’s friends and close acquaintances were also financially stable and had reached agreements to purchase mining devices under the same conditions. He fraudulently entered into agreements with dozens of others through them, stealing large sums of money from all.

A total of 23 individuals have been victimized by the young man's criminal activities. The resident of Gyumri has been charged with fraud committed on a particularly large scale, which carries a penalty of 4 to 8 years of imprisonment. The preliminary investigation has been completed, and the case materials, along with the indictment, have been sent to the supervising prosecutor.