By Naira Bughadarian
YEREVAN (Azatutyun) — The Armenian authorities have moved to confiscate hundreds of millions of dollars in assets belonging to Gagik Tsarukyan, one of Armenia’s richest men leading a major opposition party.
The assets include the largest of Tsarukyan’s companies and about 90 properties owned by him or members of his family. The authorities are also seeking to seize over 86 billion drams ($213 million) in revenue generated by them. All this may well account for most of the vast fortune made by the tycoon since the early 1990s.
The Office of the Prosecutor-General announced late last week that it has asked an Armenian court to approve the seizures in accordance with a controversial law that allows the authorities to confiscate assets deemed to have been acquired illegally. It said the court has already agreed to freeze them pending a verdict in the case.
A statement released by the law-enforcement agency did not publish any evidence in support of its claims that Tsarukyan and his family have amassed their wealth illegally. The tycoon’s lawyers were quick to reject the claims and insist that “the origin of Gagik Tsarukyan’s assets is legal.”
“There is weighty evidence of that, which will be presented to the court and the Office of the Prosecutor-General as soon as possible,” they said in a statement.