A court hearing was held in the Anti-Corruption Court, presided over by Judge Rudolf Avagyan, regarding the case of confiscation of allegedly illegal property belonging to Mihran Poghosyan, former head of the Judicial Acts Compulsory Enforcement Service and former MP, and seven persons related to him.
According to Iravaban.net, two motions were presented at this court session. The first motion discussed was presented by Ameriabank’s representative, lawyer Hrachya Marangulyan.
It should be noted that Tigran Sahakyan, the bankruptcy manager of Catherine Group LLC, was present at the session, stating that he attended at the bank representative’s request as the bank needed to present a motion related to the bankruptcy proceedings.
The bankruptcy manager reported that the court had made a decision on the company’s liquidation. Currently, it still exists and is in the liquidation phase. When completed, if obligations remain unpaid and no assets remain, it will proceed to final liquidation and “receive its death certificate.”
It was noted that by law, Catherine Group LLC’s director Antonio Ricardo Merino no longer has any authority, and Tigran Sahakyan is the only legal representative.
Hrachya Marangulyan presented a motion to partially modify the claim security measure.
He noted that the initial security measure was applied when the Anti-Corruption Court didn’t exist, imposing restrictions on sale and alienation of properties, while the properties were also under arrest in criminal proceedings.
“Ameriabank is the pledgee of these properties because the claim amount is enormous – $12,941,000, 106 million drams, 103,000 euros, 18,000 euros, totaling about over $15 million,” he said.
According to him, among these pledges were two real estate properties located on Arshakunyats Street. These belonged to the now-defunct “MMM” company, which was the bank’s former client, and against loan obligations, the bankruptcy manager sold them to another company unrelated to Catherine Group LLC or any participant in this case.
An offer was received from Catherine Group to buy these properties, and the company purchased them entirely with bank loans, only paying interest for some time before planning to develop major businesses.
“Not a penny was invested by Catherine Group LLC; later they repaid $234,000 of that loan. We appealed to the investigator several times to remove the arrest but were refused. We appealed to court multiple times, and through various instances, the case finally reached the Anti-Corruption Court, where two judges granted the motion,” said the bank’s representative.
He stated that when the facts of the criminal case are confirmed, they are obligated to give the money to the state upon first request, and in this context, the court ruled that the arrest should be lifted.
“When we presented $15 million, we paid profit tax to the state budget from 14 billion. Now, once we recover our losses, if these two properties are sold together for 1.7 billion, Ameriabank receives 1.6 billion, not only will the bank’s indicators improve, but 18% will be immediately paid as profit tax this year,” he said.
He emphasized that this would align with Ameriabank’s interests, as the funds have been frozen for 6-7 years, and there is also a legally binding judicial act in the criminal case stating that Catherine Group LLC could not have acquired it through criminal means.
The lawyer motioned for urgent removal of restrictions on the two properties on Arshakunyats Street regarding preliminary claim security.
He also noted that these two properties were acquired with bank loans, and Mihran Poghosyan only repaid 3.5% of the loan, amounting to $227,207.
Prosecutor Tigran Yenoqyan told the bank’s representative that according to the claim, real estate properties belonging to Mihran Poghosyan were also pledged for Catherine Group LLC, and asked whether these properties were included in the loan exceeding $12 million. The lawyer confirmed this but said he couldn’t deny or confirm regarding other properties, though there was no issue of illegal payment for these properties.
Yenoqyan asked about the possibility of motions being presented regarding other properties belonging to Mihran Poghosyan that are also bank collateral. Marangulyan said there was a difference – other properties belonged to Mihran Poghosyan from a certain date, and he has no information about previous ownership or means of acquisition, but these two properties were acquired entirely with bank-provided funds.
According to him, there is no urgency issue; all properties pledged by third parties are under arrest, so no action can be taken until the court makes its final judgment.
Defendant’s representative Aram Orbelyan stated regarding the motion that the court should not consider it established that Mihran Poghosyan made the payment, and if this would be essential for discussing the motion, they would additionally motion to obtain certain evidence.
Prosecutor Tigran Yenoqyan objected to the motion, noting that the illegal property confiscation proceedings were based on the competent authority initially considering Mihran Poghosyan as the real beneficiary of Catherine Group LLC when filing the claim, considering that as of July 15, 2008, Poghosyan had “de jure” alienated the company’s share.
“Even as of 2016, when Catherine Group’s shares were registered in the Republic of Panama, properties belonging to Mihran Poghosyan that I mentioned when asking questions continue to remain pledged for the same company. They are collateral items, Ameriabank has presented that total credit funds exceed $13 million, and this is the main argument that Mihran Poghosyan continued to control this company’s activities even after alienating his share, with transactions being carried out at his expense.”
According to him, properties belonging to the company were also effectively controlled by Mihran Poghosyan, and a monetary claim exceeding 6 billion has been presented in this case, with the plaintiff expecting that the monetary claim should be satisfied through the sale of shares of companies belonging to Mihran Poghosyan.
“In this case, there are numerous properties on the company’s balance sheet, and I think at some point, when a judicial act is made in favor of the plaintiff, if the company’s share passes to the state, these movable and immovable properties could also pass to the state,” said Yenoqyan.
In response to the presiding judge’s question, the prosecutor said that the company’s activities were considered illegal, and on this basis, all properties on the company’s balance sheet were considered illegal.
The defendant’s other representative, lawyer Arthur Hovhannisyan, stated regarding the motion that while the motion doesn’t concern their clients’ interests, it is well-founded. He said there is no claim for two real estate properties within the subject matter of the lawsuit to dispute the matter of collateral or loan, and this process has nothing to do with the bankruptcy manager’s authority: “The company has a legal obligation, has a loan, hasn’t fulfilled the loan, there is collateral that must be alienated, even if the claim is satisfied, this collateral won’t cease to exist.”
“When the bankruptcy manager comes and presents a legal claim, saying they’re alienating this property to satisfy claims, I think the court is obligated to grant the motion because the manager is doing it legally.”
According to Iravaban.net, at this session, a motion was presented on behalf of respondent Gagik Badalyan to partially modify the claim security measure.
One of the demands presented within this case relates to Badalyan, which prohibited any actions regarding cottages in Tsaghkadzor, Kotayk region, and property on Zakyan Street.
The court will make decisions on the motions in separate judicial acts, which will be published on December 4.
Mariam Shahnazaryan
