New charge presented to Robert Kocharyan

Robert Kocharyan, the second president of Armenia, is accused of financial frauds and money laundering, Arthur Vanetsyan, the head of the National Security Service (NSS) of Armenia, has stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Robert Kocharyan was arrested on July 27, 2018, on charges of overthrowing the constitutional order in connection with the dispersal of protest actions in Yerevan on March 1-2, 2008. On August 13, the Court of Appeal (CoA) cancelled his arrest, referring to the immunity of the former Armenian president.

On September 11, at a press conference dedicated to a leakage of a telephone conversation of heads of the Armenian power structures on the "March 1 case", Arthur Vanetsyan announced a new criminal case initiated against Robert Kocharyan.

"A criminal case has been opened under the article of 'money laundering and frauds'. Several hundred million dollars are in question; we'll publish the facts and tell who has what wealth," the "Interfax" quotes the head of the NSS as stating.

According to Vanetsyan, one of the episodes relates to Robert Kocharyan's acquisition of the Congress Hotel in Yerevan for 6 million US dollars. The head of the NSS also promised to publish information about financial frauds involving Alexander Sargsyan, a brother of Serzh Sargsyan, the third president of Armenia.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 12, 2018 at 00:57 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.