The elder son of Robert Kocharian, a former Armenian president arrested in December, has been charged with tax evasion and money laundering, it emerged on Monday.
Sedrak Kocharian revealed the accusations brought by the National Security Service (NSS) in comments made to a website reputedly linked to his father. One of the ex-president’s lawyers, Aram Orbelian, confirmed the information but did not give details of the criminal case.
The NSS has not yet commented on the development.
The head of the powerful security agency, Artur Vanetsian, said in September that it is scrutinizing what he described as hundreds of millions of dollars worth of assets belonging to Kocharian and his family members. Vanetsian claimed that they had acquired a hotel in Yerevan through a fraudulent scheme.
Sedrak Kocharian responded by filing a defamation suit against Vanetsian. The NSS subsequently questioned him as a witness in its corruption investigation.
Kocharian Jr. told 2rd.am that he has signed a pledge not to leave the country until the inquiry is over. He rejected the accusations as “fabricated.”
“What is happening does not quite surprise me,” he said. “[Prime Minister] Nikol Pashinian has long been fixated on our family, ever since his journalistic activities.”
Echoing statements by his father, Sedrak Kocharian also blamed Pashinian for the 2008 post-election violence in Yerevan which left ten people dead.
Robert Kocharian is prosecuted on charges stemming from that unrest. He is accused by another law-enforcement body of illegally using Armenian army units against opposition supporters who protested against alleged vote rigging.
The 64-year-old ex-president, who ruled the country from 1998-2008, rejects the charges as politically motivated. He has also denied enriching himself or his family while in office. He has only admitted that his two sons are engaged in entrepreneurial activity.
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