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.