Attorney Releases Video of Gagik Tsarukyan’s Talks with Iranian Businesspeople Proving His Innocence

ArmInfo. Attorney Yerem Sargsyan has published a video recording of negotiations between his client, Prosperous Armenia Party leader and businessman Gagik Tsarukyan, and Iranian businessmen, proving his innocence.

"We are presenting to the public a fragment of the first video, which clearly confirms that Gagik Tsarukyan not only did not commit fraud, but that the Iranian citizens presented as victims appropriated at least $14.5 million from him, while the real victim, Gagik Tsarukyan, was artificially turned into an accused person by law enforcement agencies. In particular, according to the official indictment, Gagik Tsarukyan from the very beginning had no intention of conducting commercial activities with the Iranian citizens recognized as victims, and also intended from the outset to fraudulently appropriate money from these Iranian citizens, Arman, Hadjiali and Erfan Olamain, and ultimately appropriated $21 million from them. As we have claimed throughout the entire preliminary investigation, the defense has irrefutable evidence that, in fact, those Iranian citizens who were artificially recognized as victims did not invest any funds at all to launch the joint business, and the entire amount was invested by Gagik Tsarukyan," Sargsyan wrote in his Facebook post accompanying the relevant video of Tsarukyan's negotiations with the Iranian businessmen.

In particular, according to the attorney, Arman Olamain presented himself as a representative of the Iranian state, claiming that he had exclusive licenses issued by the Iranian state to import numerous goods into the Republic of Armenia, that he could import those goods at incomparably low and advantageous prices and sell them in the Republic of Armenia for joint profit; therefore, by mutual agreement, Gagik Tsarukyan invested the entire amount necessary for conducting the business, while the supply of goods from the Islamic Republic of Iran and the conduct of the business were to be carried out by Arman Olamain through his proxies.

According to Tsarukyan's attorney, for this purpose, the company "IRAN-ARMENIA TRADE DEVELOPMENT" LLC was established, 50% of whose shares belonged to "MULTI GROUP" LLC and 50% to the Iranian company "PARS HELAL," owned by the Olamain family. Hamlet Tumanyan, a close friend of the father of Arman Olamain, another victim, Hadjiali Olamain, and their proxy, was appointed its executive director.  Other companies were also established, including "EURASIA MULTI TRADE COMPANY" and "EURASIA CEMENT" LLC, 50% of whose shares belonged to Arman Olamain and 50% to Gagik Tsarukyan, while their proxy, Hamlet Tumanyan, was also appointed executive director.

In the video presented, Gagik Tsarukyan, in the presence of an interpreter, speaks with the "victims," Hadjiali and Erfan Olamain, and states how much he trusted them, that he accepted and continues to accept Arman Olamain as a brother, that he trusted them unconditionally, that they were representatives of the Iranian state, especially considering that they invited him to Iran and received him with great respect, arranged meetings with numerous officials, including ministers, and so on, and that his goal was the comprehensive development of Armenian-Iranian relations.

In the video of the negotiations, Gagik Tsarukyan clearly states that he did not know either Hamlet Tumanyan or Arman Olamain, that from the first day they came to him, they presented themselves as representatives of the Iranian state, and that this was precisely why he trusted them unconditionally.

There are also fragments in which Gagik Tsarukyan states that he invested all the money himself, that Arman Olamain did not invest "a single penny," and that when he told Arman that he should invest at least 10% of the money, Arman Olamain replied that he had no money, but despite this, he registered 50% of the shares in the newly established company in Arman Olamain's name.

It should be recalled that, according to the indictment, Gagik Tsarukyan is accused of committing crimes under a number of articles of the Criminal Code concerning fraud, extortion and money laundering. The head of the "Multi Group" concern, Sedrak Arustamyan, and 7 other people are also defendants in the case.

The Investigative Committee believes that Tsarukyan and other individuals falsified customs declarations and documents, as a result of which substantial damage was caused to the state or the entities involved, including episodes involving the embezzlement of property worth approximately 8.1 billion drams.  On July 7, 2026, a court in Yerevan arrested Gagik Tsarukyan for a period of 2 months. The politician's defense attempted to appeal the decision.

In October 2026, based on decisions by the Anti-Corruption Court, Armenia's Compulsory Enforcement Service imposed a large-scale seizure on property and assets associated with Tsarukyan. Approximately 29 real estate properties, 33 vehicles and 488 items of movable property were seized. A separate ban on changing the owners was imposed on Tsarukyan's properties in the coastal zone of Lake Sevan. Seizures were also imposed on stakes in 27 different companies owned by Tsarukyan, as well as on stakes and shares in 40 legal entities affiliated with him.