The trial of 71-year-old Mher Sedrakyan and his family, in the case of confiscation of properties and assets of allegedly Illicit Origin, began today at the Anti-Corruption Civil court. The Presiding Judge is Karapet Badalyan.

According to Iravaban.net, the representatives of the defendants, Varazdat Badalyan and Aleksan Khachatryan, submitted a petition to the court to hold the hearing behind closed doors. In accordance with the requirements of the Civil Procedure Code, the issue of examining the case or a part of it behind closed doors is resolved behind closed doors. About 10 minutes later, it was announced that the motion of the representatives of the respondents was rejected. The lawyers had 2 motions to file, but the court ruled that the plaintiff must first disclose the basis and subject matter of the lawsuit.

It is noted that the Prosecutor’s Office studied the information on the property and income of the Sedrakyans for about 30 years, starting from 1992.

In his speech, Hamlet Harutyunyan, the Prosecutor of the the Department for Confiscation of Property of Illicit Origin, stated that the Prosecutor’s Office demands to confiscate from Mher Sedrakyan 1 billion 434 million AMD, which is not justified by legal income, has an illicit origin and cannot be identified and confiscated, because it was transferred to a bona fide acquirer. “Also, 7 billion 236 million 775 thousand AMD are subject to confiscation as the remainder of illicit income, which is the amount resulting from the transformation of properties of illicit origin, alienation or use.”

According to the claimant, in 2019, 2020 and 2021, a large number of properties of illicit origin were alienated. The prosecutor also mentioned that Mher Sedrakyan’s wife, Shushanik Afyan, has never worked, but has acquired and alienated properties, the value of which exceeds several tens of millions. The plaintiff considered Mher Sedrakyan to be the beneficial owner of the mentioned properties.

Varazdat Badalyan, the representative of the respondents, asked to clarify how 1 billion 434 million AMD was generated. “How did you decide that it was illegal? How did you get the sum of this money and how much of it was transferred to a bona fide acquirer? How much is impossible to identify and why?”

According to the prosecutor, these are the amounts that were transferred to third parties as a result of various payments, transfers and other monetary operations during the period under study. “Both cash and non-cash.”

“You have described actions with 4 “or”-s. “Which of the “or”-s is with which amount, so that tomorrow we will know, bring evidence, present it, dispel your doubt,” Varazdat Badalyan said, adding that the defendant is not given the opportunity to effectively defend himself. According to him, the basis of formation of 7 billion 236 million 775 thousand AMD is not clear for them either.

The prosecutor noted that the mentioned questions can be addressed in detail during the next session, as the lawyers’ questions require detailed answers.

The court decided to adjourn the session and give the plaintiff an opportunity to submit answers to the mentioned questions.

Yevgenya Hambardzumyan