Armenia’s Prosecutor General Demands Seizure of $2.5 Million of Illegally Acquired Funds from Former Culture Minister

YEREVAN –Armenia’s Prosecutor General Office (PGO) wants to confiscate one billion drams (US$2.482M) from former Minister of Culture Hasmik Poghosyan, claiming she purchased several properties with illegally acquired funds, Hetq.am reports.

Poghosyan served as culture minister from 2006 to 2016.

The PGO has sent the case to the country’s Anti-Corruption Court for adjudication.

Hetq, in 2015, revealed that Poghosyan and then Armenian Ambassador to Israel Armen Smbatyan, forged documents to acquire a two-story downtown Yerevan building colloquially known as AOKS. (AOKS is the Russian acronym for the Armenian Society for Friendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries – ASRFC.)

The building and land were then sold to an offshore company, owned by Poghosyan’s daughter-in-law, for $550,000.

In 2020, Armenia’s Investigative Committee issued an arrest warrant for Poghosyan, charging her with abuse of power and money laundering. She fled Armenia for an unknown destination.