On 7 July, the Anti-Corruption Court continued the examination of the lawsuit filed by the Department for Confiscation of Property of Illicit Origin of the General Prosecutor’s Office against the 13th Prime Minister of RA Hovik Abrahamyan and his related persons, with the demand for the confiscation of property of alleged illicit origin.
According to Iravaban.net, at the beginning of today’s court session, Vahagn Grigoryan, the representative of the Arsen Abrahamyan nephew of the former Prime Minister and Karine Abrahamyan, petitioned to separate the proceedings of the case regarding the claims of his clients, as well as “Liga” and “Shahart” LLCs and to apply an accelerated trial in the separated part. and reject the claim.
The party claims that Hovik Abrahamyan is not the beneficial owner of the properties belonging to Arsen and Karine Abrahamyan. “The assertion of the competent body that Hovik Abrahamyan is the beneficial owner of the properties belonging to Karine Abrahamyan is not confirmed.”
It should be noted that in order to justify the above, the Prosecutor General’s Office referred to a number of circumstances, among which, for example, the concession of the geological survey from “Liga” to “Argamik” LLCy. According to Vahagn Grigoryan, the mentioned circumstance does not have any legal significance. “In addition, the works and studies provided for by the license were not carried out.”
The Prosecutor General’s Office also found out that the son of the former Prime Minister, Argam Abrahamyan, the former Mayor of Artashat, gave loans to “Liga” and “Shahart” companies, which, according to Vahagn Grigoryan, were returned. In 2013, the former Mayor provided a loan of about 650,000 US dollars to “Liga”, which the company had to return by 1 August, 2014, but in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021, additional agreements between the company and Argam Abrahamyan were made by which the refund period was extended until 1 August, 2022.
“In 2014, the “Liga” LLC returned 30,000 USD to Argam Abrahamyan, and the competent authority probably meant these payments when it noted that 30,000 USD was transferred to the Abrahamyan family from “Liga” LLC. In addition, during 2014 “Liga” LLC returned 27 thousand 970 USD, in 2015 – 136 thousand 530 USD, in 2016 – 25 thousand 450 USD, in 2017 – 45 thousand 140 USD, 128 thousand 340 USD, in 2018 – 148 thousand 330 USD, in 2019 – 97 thousand 800 USD, in 2021 – 10 thousand 440 USD. In other words, as of 2021, the company has fully repaid the debt, returning to Argam Abrahamyan exactly as much money as it received from him,” Vahagn Grigoryan noted.
Argam Abrahamyan also gave a loan of 150 thousand US USD to “Shahart” company. It was fully returned in 2016. The lawyer notes that the money given as a loan cannot be considered as an investment.
It is also noted that in January 2004, Karine Abrahamyan acquired 50 percent of the shares of “Liga” LLC for 25 thousand AMD. In June 2007, she made an investment of 9 million 975 thousand AMD in the “Liga” company, but before that, in April 2007, the company received a dividend of 10 million 350 thousand AMD. In 2015, Karine Abrahamyan acquired the other 50 percent of the company for 9 million 900 thousand AMD, but before that, in March 2008 and April 2012, she received a dividend of 248 million AMD from “Liga”. In 2009, Karine Abrahamyan decided to buy 50 percent of “Shahart” company for 637 thousand AMD and on 30 April, 2010, she received a dividend of 30 million 9500 AMD from the company. In 2010, she invested 11 million 363 thousand AMD in the company. Dividend in the amount of 274 million 523 thousand AMD from April 2011 to April 2014. In April 2015, Karine Abrahamyan acquired another 50 percent of the company’s shares for 12 million AMD.
In 2016, Karine Abrahamyan made an investment in the statutory capital of the company in the form of a vehicle, the market value of which was 34 million AMD. She had bought that car on the basis of a donation contract.\
Vahagn Grigoryan claims that Karine Abrahamyan’s investments and acquisitions of shares are justified by legal income.
Karine Abrahamyan is currently suffering losses due to the lawsuit filed and the injunction applied under those conditions. For example, “Liga” LLC is unable to implement its business plans, because it is necessary to attract credit funds. “Partner banks are currently refusing to cooperate because of the restrictions applied, considering it risky,” he said.
Tigran Yenokyan, Deputy Head of the Department for Confiscation of Property of Illicit Origin,, reported in court that the Prosecutor General’s Office made requests to the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, as well as the SRC, to find out the incomes of Arsen and Karine Abrahamyan. In the submitted materials, the answers to the requests received by the Prosecutor’s Office were presented. “In the application, it was mentioned how much Karine Abrahamyan’s income is, I think it is not important, because it is Hovik Abrahamyan who is the beneficial owner of these companies. Whether Karine Abrahamyan had that money or not is not important.”
The Prosecutor also stated that the competent authority wanted to find out this information also within the framework of pre-trial proceedings, relevant letters were addressed to the above-mentioned companies, but there was no response. “It is puzzling why the companies decided to submit these documents now, since we requested them earlier.”
According to Tigran Yenokyan, they should be further studied. Referring to the fact of receiving the license to conduct geological research and transferring it to “Argamik” LLC, he reminded that Hovik Abrahamyan held the position of the Minister of Territorial Administration at that time and controlled that sector as well. “With the combination of several evidences, we came to the conclusion that Hovik Abrahamyan was the beneficial owner of these companies.”
The prosecutor also considered suspicious the acquisition of 50 percent of the shares of “Liga” LLC for 25 thousand AMD and receiving a dividend of about 10 million AMD about 3 years after. “I’m sorry, but it’s funny. We need to study and understand how one can have 25 thousand AMD and receive a dividend of 10 million 350 thousand AMD.”
The judge asked to be careful when using certain expressions so that they do not offend the participants of the trial.
Tigran Yenokyan also asked for time so that he could study the presented documents and present his position. “One month will be enough.”
The participants in the trial were in favor of giving the prosecutor the time, and even welcomed his desire to get to know the materials in depth and not to object to it at once.
However, the court announced a 30-minute break, during which Tigran Yenokyan had to familiarize himself with the presented materials and state his position. After the hearing resumed, the prosecutor objected to it. The court rejected the petition presented by Vahagn Grigoryan and continued the examination of the claim.
It should be noted that the session lasted until the end of the working day, with some breaks.
Yevgenya Hambardzumyan
