Armenia: Gagik Tsarukyan's casino license revoked

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia's Ministry of Finance has revoked the license of a casino belonging to lawmaker and businessman Gagik Tsarukyan, Azdarar.am reports.

Shangri La, one of the biggest casinos in the country, has not paid a quarter of the state fee for the second quarter of 2020, the report says.

Tsarukyan, the head of the Prosperous Armenia party, has been stripped of his parliamentary immunity, which came amid a probe into businesses owned and run by him, and several criminal cases involving the lawmaker.

Security service officers conducted a search at Tsarukyan's residence for four hours on June 14. The man who is considered the wealthiest person in Armenia was then questioned for nine hours, with four criminal cases launched towards the end of the day.

According to the NSS, a casino belonging to Tsarukyan has caused AMD 30 billion ($62 million) in damages to the state, while his party, Prosperous Armenia, handed out hundreds of millions of drams in election bribes in 2017.

Tsarukyan says he is innocent and that all the cases are “fabricated”.