Directors of Robert Kocharyan`s companies detained

ArmInfo.Criminal charges have been brought against the directors of companies belonging to second president Robert Kocharyan; they have been detained.

The press service of the Investigative Committee (IC) of Armenia told  ArmInfo that they were detained for large-scale tax evasion. The case  resulted in damages to the state amounting to approximately 2.6  billion drams. "As part of criminal proceedings being investigated by  the General Department for the Investigation of Economic Crimes and  Smuggling of the Investigative Committee of Armenia regarding  large-scale tax evasion, searches were simultaneously conducted at 17  addresses-the locations of business activities and residences of  representatives of business entities. As a result, documents and  items relevant to the criminal proceedings were discovered and  seized," the Investigative Committee of Armenia clarified.

The agency also reported that the addresses of the business entities  have been sealed, in accordance with the procedure established by  criminal procedure law, for investigative and other procedural  actions. "Based on facts indicating the commission of crimes,  investigators from the Main Department for the Investigation of  Economic Crimes and Smuggling of the Investigative Committee of the  Republic of Armenia submitted petitions to the prosecutor supervising  the proceedings to initiate public criminal prosecution against  directors I.Kh., A.A., K.A., and former director Kh.M. under  paragraph 2 of part 3 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code. The  petitions were granted," the Investigative Committee of Armenia  added. It is noted that petitions for the application of pretrial  detention will be filed with the court.

As a reminder, it was reported this morning that security forces,  following a search, had taken second Armenian President Robert  Kocharyan to the Anti-Corruption Committee. Furthermore, searches  were also conducted early on the morning of August 25 at Levon  Kocharyan's home. They lasted seven hours. It was also reported that  searches were conducted at dozens of addresses belonging to companies  belonging to the Kocharyan family. Later, the Anti-Corruption  Committee of Armenia confirmed the detention of Robert Kocharyan and  his son, Sedrak Kocharyan. Robert Kocharyan is accused of abuse of  office, accepting a bribe on an especially large scale, and money  laundering. Nine other individuals are also involved in the case.  Aram Orbelyan, the lawyer for the second Armenian president, reported  that Kocharyan was detained on charges similar to those brought  against him following the June parliamentary elections in Armenia.   Orbelyan specified that the charges relate to Kocharyan's  ratification of certain government decisions during his presidency. A  little later, the office of Armenia's second president announced that  Robert Kocharyan had been hospitalized from the Anti-Corruption  Committee building due to an earlier operation.  Notably, the  previous day, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had ordered law  enforcement agencies to strip Kocharyan and the third president of  the Republic, Serzh Sargsyan, of their property.