The Investigative Committee has announced that David Papazyan, former director of the Armenia National Interests Fund (ANIF), will be declared internationally wanted. Detention has been chosen as his preventive measure, reports Hetq.
On August 15, the Prosecutor General’s Office initiated public criminal prosecution against Papazyan, former director of the Entrepreneur + State Anti-Crisis Investments Fund Bella Manukyan, and Karine Andreasyan, director of CFW CJSC.
Papazyan faces charges under three articles of Armenia’s Criminal Code: falsification of documents (Article 457), large-scale money laundering (Article 296, Part 3, Clauses 2 and 3), and abuse of official authority in the private sector (Article 277, Part 2, Clause 2).
Judging from photos he shared on social media, Papazyan is currently in London.
Karine Andreasyan also faces prosecution for large-scale money laundering and has been barred from leaving Armenia.
Bella Manukyan has been charged with document falsification and abuse of authority. A bail measure has been applied against her.
The Investigative Committee has not confirmed whether Tigran Avinyan, who chaired ANIF’s board of directors between 2019 and 2023, has been questioned in the case.
“To ensure the proper course of pretrial proceedings, the body conducting the investigation does not consider it appropriate at this stage to disclose further details,” the Committee said in a statement.
