ArmInfo.Investigation Committee (IC) of Armenia opened a criminal case against the former headRA police Vladimir Gasparyan.According to the press service of the RA SK, a criminal case was initiated after the discovery of new facts as part of the investigation into the claim of the former owner of the King-Deluxe company Artur Harutyunyan against the Prosperous Armenia party leader Gagik Tsarukyan.
According to the investigation, before the parliamentary elections in January-February 2012, the former police chief Vladimir Gasparyan promised to intervene and help Harutyunyan to resolve the issue of toll traffic if the latter helps the Republican Party of Armenia to gain votes. He instructed his subordinates not to interfere with Harutyunyan's business activities, including in the event of a traffic violation. At the same time, the police were instructed to "create obstacles for the free buses of the Tsarukyan Charitable Foundation.
All of these circumstances, the investigation considers, contain signs of abuse of power, and therefore a criminal case has been initiated.Earlier, the Investigation Committee of Armenia opened a criminal case on materials on preventing the entry of economic entities tomarket or ousting it. According to the materials of the criminal case, the transport companies "King Deluxe" and "Trans Comfort" carried out passenger transportation in the directions Abovyan-Yerevan-Abovyan and Charentsavan-Yerevan-Charentsavan. The former owner of these companies, Arthur Harutyunyan (nicknamed "The Executioner"), said that employees of the Gagik Tsarukyan Charitable Foundation, trying to hinder the activities of these companies, began to transport passengers free of charge in 2012-2016.
As a result, the company suffered serious financial losses and went bankrupt. In 2015, both companies were acquired by the firm Multitrans, which now provides paid transportation.A criminal case was initiated under Part 1 of Article 196 of the Criminal Code of Armenia (restriction of competition, which is aimed at ousting the economic entity from the market). Investigators conduct the necessary measures to identify all the circumstances of the case.