Individuals Arrested for Distributing Counterfeit Currency: Details

On February 9, officers from the Yeghgnadzor Division of the National Police received operational information that on February 7, around 19:00, two men and one woman from Yerevan had gone to market stalls in the Agavnadzor area of the Arpi settlement to distribute counterfeit currency using an "Opel" vehicle. They made purchases worth 80,000 dram at one stall, paying with two counterfeit 100-dollar bills.

On the same day, operational information regarding the distribution of counterfeit currency was also received at the Jermuk Division of the Police. The aforementioned individuals made purchases worth 16,000 dram from a woman selling herbs in the area of the drinking establishment in Jermuk, again paying with a counterfeit 100-dollar bill and receiving 24,000 dram in change before leaving.

A criminal case has been initiated in the Investigative Department of Vayotz Dzor Province. On February 11, around 14:30, patrol officers in Vayotz Dzor Province received information that passengers in an "Opel" vehicle had attempted to make purchases with counterfeit bills at market stalls in Areni village. Acting on this information, the patrol officers stopped the aforementioned "Opel" at the 123.5 km mark of the Yerevan-Meghri road and arrested the 53-year-old driver and his 37 and 25-year-old passengers, who are husband and wife, on suspicion of distributing counterfeit currency.

During a personal search, one obviously counterfeit 100-dollar bill was found on the driver, while the 37-year-old passenger reported that there were 10 counterfeit 100-dollar bills in a bag in the vehicle. The vehicle was confiscated and taken to the department's secure area, and the arrested individuals were presented to the Investigative Department of Vayotz Dzor Province along with the documentation.

Meanwhile, thanks to the efforts of the criminal investigators of the Yeghgnadzor Division, it was determined that the aforementioned individuals had also conducted transactions in the Noravank market area around 19:30 on February 7, making payments with three counterfeit 100-dollar bills. All individuals presented their counterfeit 100-dollar bills.

Through joint operational and investigative measures taken by the Vayotz Dzor Regional Division of the National Police, the Yeghgnadzor Division, and the Vayotz Dzor Province Investigative Department, it was determined that the 37-year-old man had acquired the counterfeit bills from a resident of one of the buildings on Peace Don Street in the capital. He was also arrested on February 14 and transferred to the Yeghgnadzor Division of the Police, where he was subsequently presented to the prosecuting body. During a search of his apartment, one counterfeit 100-dollar bill was found.

The three men have been detained, while a house arrest measure has been selected for the 25-year-old woman. In the framework of the initiated criminal proceedings, a seizure was conducted on February 14 in a house on 2nd Koghbi Street in the capital, where the 25-year-old woman presented law enforcement with 46 counterfeit 100-dollar bills. The criminal proceedings are ongoing.