An arrest warrant has been issued for Gagik Khachatryan; searches have been conducted at 21 companies

An arrest warrant has been issued within the framework of the criminal proceedings initiated against the former Chairman of the State Revenue Committee of the Republic of Armenia Gagik Khachatryan. Investigative actions have been carried out in his and his son’s apartments, as well as in the offices and branches of about 21 companies affiliated with them. “Within the framework of the criminal proceedings initiated by the General Department for the Investigation of Crimes against the State, Fundamentals of the Constitutional Order and Public Security of the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Armenia on the cases of receiving a bribe in particularly large amounts and laundering money in particularly large amounts, urgent investigative and procedural actions have been carried out in the apartments of the former Chairman of the State Revenue Committee of the Republic of Armenia G.Kh., the latter’s son, as well as in the offices and branches of about 21 companies affiliated with them. A decision has been made within the framework of the criminal proceedings to arrest G.Kh. for presentation to court,” the RA Investigative Committee said in a statement. It should be recalled that the process of confiscating property of illegal origin against Gagik Khachatryan and his associates began back in 2021-2022. According to the data published by the Prosecutor's Office, Khachatryan and about 25 associates are required to confiscate 210 units of real estate, 60 of which are in Yerevan, 14 vehicles, participations in 33 organizations, as well as more than 40 billion drams. The list of property also included the mansion belonging to Khachatryan's family in the Holmby Hills district of Los Angeles, California, USA. A separate legal process was conducted in the US regarding its confiscation. In 2024, the US Department of Justice announced the achievement of an agreement on the confiscation of property. It should be noted that on August 27, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, answering a question from Factor TV, noted: "How is it that they catch a poor guy, take him away, put him in prison for twenty years, and Gagik Tsarukyan and Serzh Sargsyan are acquitted by the Armenian judicial system? How? For free? How is it that Gagik Khachatryan is on trial, the judge brazenly delays the trial so much that he retires, so that the entire legal process comes to nothing. For free? Are you serious?"