The materials of the criminal case against individuals who embezzled 1 billion 73 million 486 thousand drams from 59 citizens and attempted to embezzle 38 million 879 thousand drams from another 19 citizens have been submitted to the court

ArmInfo. On September 1, 2026, the prosecutor transferred to the Yerevan City Court of First Instance the materials of the criminal case against individuals who embezzled 1 billion 73 million 486 thousand drams from 59 citizens and attempted to embezzle 38 million 879 thousand drams from another 19 citizens. This was reported by the press service of the RA Prosecutor General's Office.

According to the investigation conducted by the Investigative Committee, it was established that foreign citizens M.Sh., M.M.,

A.P., a certain "Max," and other individuals not identified during the investigation, created and participated in the activities of a criminal organization from September 26, 2025 to April 21, 2026. Members of the criminal organization, complementing each other's actions, developed a unified mechanism for committing fraud on an especially large scale. Specifically, fake accounts with the names and photographs of publicly known individuals were created on WhatsApp and Viber using the mobile phone numbers of G.B. and R.S., who were assisting the criminal organization. These accounts were used to send messages to acquaintances of these individuals about problems with various government agencies and that an employee of the National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia would contact them regarding this matter.

Then, posing as NSS employees under various names, including "David Ashotovich Oganesyan," "Captain Vazgen Harutyunyan," "Gurgen Levonovich Simonyan," "Vagan Seyranovich Poghosyan," and "Arman."

Tigranovich Sargsyan They called citizens, exerted psychological pressure on them, created an atmosphere of fear and anxiety about alleged financial problems, and demanded confidentiality and compliance with the instructions of an employee of the Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia. Then, posing as police officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Armenia under the name "David Nikoyan," they further strengthened the victims' trust. Continuing their criminal activity, members of the criminal organization also impersonated employees of the Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia under various names, presented forged certificates, and convinced citizens that, to avoid potential problems, they needed to transfer funds from their bank accounts to other, supposedly "safe" accounts. Acting with a common intent, members of the criminal organization stole a total of 1,073,486,000 drams from 59 citizens and attempted to steal 38,879,000 drams from 19 others.

M.M. A search has been announced.

The portion of the criminal case separating M.Sh., A.P., G.B., and R.S., with the approved indictment, has been transferred to the competent court.