Arpine Hovhannisyan: Mihran Poghosyan case is being investigated

 A criminal case has been instituted over the offshore scandal related to the name of Mihran Poghosyan, the former head of the Judicial Acts Compulsory 
Enforcement Service of Armenia, Justice Minister of Armenia Arpine Hovhannisyan said in Parliament on April 27.   

"Files are currently being prepared," she said, adding that Poghosyan has already resigned and explained the reasons. She also noted that 
the Government is consistent in its fight against corruption.  

To recall, Mihran Poghosyan, owner of three offshore companies and head of the Judicial Acts Compulsory Enforcement Service of Armenia 
(JACES), resigned on April 18, promising to publicly touch upon the offshore scandal as an ordinary citizen. The JACES press office has 
told ArmInfo that when explaining his resignation, Poghosyan said that in the light of the Panama offshore scandals, the Armenian and 
international media reports also mention his name, which causes comparisons between Armenia and Azerbaijan.  "Unfortunately, my name 
is mentioned along with Azeri president Ilham Aliyev's family, which has misappropriated billions of dollars. It is unacceptable that my 
personality causes parallels between our country and autocratic Azerbaijan. So, I am sending in my resignation," he said.
          
To note, on April 3, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting 
Project (OCCRP) published the findings of a survey that investigated the global offshore network and featured nearly 11.5 million 
documents. The documents reveal the scales of "shadow economy" involving the leading world politicians and businessmen. According to 
these documents, Mihran Poghosyan is the shareholder of three companies registered in Panama: Sigtem Real Estates Incorporated, 
Hopkinten Trading Incorporated, BANGIO INVEST S.A. So, Poghosyan conducts business through the companies registered in Panama and 
conceals the income.