Iranian citizens in Yerevan fell into trap of "visa" scammers

ArmInfo.Iranian citizens in Armenia fell into the trap of scammers who promised to help them get  a Schengen visa for money.

In particular, according to the press service of the Investigative  Committee, two Iranian citizens who intend to carry out the process  of obtaining permission to enter the Schengen countries on the  territory of the Republic of Armenia, having learned from their  acquaintance that a 56-year-old resident of Yerevan can organize this  process in Armenia, arrived to Yerevan in June-August 2019. A  resident of Yerevan promised them to arrange for a Schengen visa for  $3,500 per person. In order to organize this process, the  aforementioned citizens of Iran invited a number of compatriots to  Armenia. The 56- year-old woman took from the above-mentioned two  citizens of the Republic of Iran a particularly large amount of  49,980,000 drams, which is a total of $105,000, which she  fraudulently appropriated.

In addition, a 56-year-old resident of Yerevan, by prior agreement  with a 47- year-old acquaintance, fraudulently stole various amounts  of money from a number of citizens. In particular, having learned  about the intention of citizens to purchase an apartment, a  56-year-old woman introduced herself as an employee of the Compulsory  Enforcement Service , who can organize the purchase of an apartment  at a price below the market price through an auction.

The investigation also established that the aforementioned two  Iranian citizens met with a 55-year-old resident of Yerevan for the  same purpose on the advice of another acquaintance of theirs. A  55-year-old man, introducing himself as an employee of the Serbian  embassy in the Republic of Armenia, using the same mechanism, took  from the citizens of Iran and embezzled the equivalent of 21,000  euros and $9,000, in total 15,311,000 drams. In the same way, a  55-year-old man took from his acquaintance 12,000 euros, which is  equivalent to 7,140,000 drams, under the pretext of organizing the  entry of his daughter's family into the French Republic.

Two women were charged under the relevant articles of the Criminal  Code of the Republic of Armenia, they were arrested. With regard to a  55-year-old man, a measure of restraint in the form of a written  undertaking not to leave was chosen.  The preliminary investigation  of the three defendants has been completed, the materials of the  criminal proceedings, together with the indictment, have been sent to  the supervising prosecutor for approval and submission to the court.