Disinformation Against Armenia: France 24 Denies Report Alleging Anna Hakobyan’s Misappropriation of $3.4 Million

PARIS — French television channel France 24 has denied false reports circulated by fake websites claiming that Anna Hakobyan, the wife of Armenia’s Prime Minister, had allegedly misappropriated $3.4 million from the “City of Smile” foundation, which supports people with cancer and blood diseases.

The broadcaster noted that the website spreading this disinformation had published articles under the names of France 24 journalists. According to the channel, the fake article about Hakobyan was published under the name of former France 24 journalist James Creighton.

France 24 emphasized that the website in question, Euleaks, is a newly created disinformation platform. Domain records show that it was registered on August 12, just one day before the false article on Armenia’s First Lady appeared. The site has published dozens of international news articles in English, most likely generated using artificial intelligence.

The broadcaster also contacted the Armenian branch of Transparency International, which confirmed that it had no information supporting the claims presented in the fake article.

The Euleaks website had attributed its allegations of so-called corruption scandals to lawyer Sergei Harutyunyan, who later clarified that he had never made such statements, contradicting the claims falsely attributed to him.

France 24 concluded that the article was yet another manifestation of an ongoing disinformation campaign against Armenia. The channel also recalled that a recently created fake site, Courrier France 24, had spread false information alleging that France was preparing to transfer nuclear waste to Armenia.