Former Armenian PM Hovik Abrahamyan accused of money laundering on a large scale

YEREVAN, April 18. /ARKA/. Former Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan has been accused of money laundering on a particularly large scale, abuse of power and illegal entrepreneurship, the General Prosecutor's Office reported.

Abrahamyan held a variety of positions from 1995 to 2016, serving as MP, mayor of Artashat, governor of Ararat province, Minister of Territorial Administration, Deputy Prime Minister, Head of President's Administration, Speaker of the Parliament and Prime Minister.

According to prosecutors, from 2008 to 2015 Abrahamyan was illegally involved in the management of Avazaatik construction sand mining company and received 230.4 mln drams of income. Earlier he had used his official position to grab 60% of the company.

The General Prosecutor's Office said to legalize the illegal income Abrahamyan bought real estate. A criminal case has been filed, it said.

In March 2023, the Office of Prosecutor General  filed a lawsuit with the Anti-Corruption Court demanding that a string of assets be seized from Hovik Abrahamyan, his wife, son, daughter and others related persons.

Under a law enacted by the Armenian government in 2020 prosecutors can seek asset forfeiture in case of having “sufficient grounds to suspect” that the market value of an individual’s properties exceeds their “legal income” by at least 50 million drams ($100,000).

The assets to be seized from Abrahamyan and his family members include fifty-nine properties, 15 of them in downtown Yerevan, 4 vehicles, shares in 20 companies, the market value of 9 real estate properties, which he had sold at a significantly lower price of 1.6 billion.