Armenia seeks to recover $75 million, hundreds of real estate properties from former finance minister in corruption probe

Armenian authorities are seeking to confiscate roughly $75 million and hundreds of real estate properties from former finance minister and tax chief Gagik Khachatryan.

Khachatryan was arrested on Tuesday and sent into pre-trial detention on Wednesday on charges of money laundering, bribery, and embezzlement. The accusations published by the prosecution on Tuesday include accepting bribes in the form of luxury apartments, misappropriating public funds, and embezzling state-owned real estate.

On Tuesday, Khachatryan’s legal team released footage of his arrest showing law enforcement officers carrying the 70-year-old former official from his bed on a stretcher. Khachatryan appeared to be groaning in pain.

The prosecutor’s statement acknowledged that Khachatryan has an unspecified medical condition, but said medical professionals had determined that it was not serious enough to warrant canceling his detention. It also said Khachatryan had previously refused to undergo an MRI scan to assess his condition.

The circumstances of Khachatryan’s arrest sparked criticism from Armenia’s human rights community. Artur Sakunts, head of the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor NGO, has argued that bringing a person into a courtroom on a stretcher amounts to degrading treatment.

The prosecution is now seeking to confiscate numerous assets belonging to Khachatryan, including bonds worth roughly $1.45 million, a loan receivable worth more than $24 million, and approximately $49 million in cash, bringing the total to around $75 million.

In addition, prosecutors are seeking the confiscation of 193 real estate properties belonging to Khachatryan, including 46 apartments in downtown Yerevan, the country’s most expensive area for real estate. The properties could be worth millions of dollars and also include dozens of houses and apartments outside the capital.

In a separate proceeding, Armenian authorities have been negotiating with the United States since 2020 to recover approximately $30 million from a mansion previously owned by Khachatryan in the U.S. The property was sold at auction last year, but the recovery proceedings remain ongoing.

Khachatryan served as chairman of Armenia’s State Revenue Committee, the country’s tax and customs authority, from 2008 to 2014, and as minister of finance from 2014 to 2016, both under then-president Serzh Sargsyan.