Ex-President’s security chief denies involvement in looting

PanARMENIAN.Net - Vachagan Ghazaryan, former head of security for Armenia’s third president Serzh Sargsyan, has denied claims that he testified against the ex-president. He admitted, however, that he no longer communicates with him.

Speaking to Aysor.am , Ghazaryan insisted he never took part in any looting and that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has “nothing to reclaim” from him.

“There has to be looting in order to reclaim something,” he said.

When asked about the return of four land plots at the Yerablur military pantheon to the state, he denied it was theft.

“That’s not looting. We acquired the lands in 2021. After that, they told us we had to return them, and we did,” Ghazaryan explained.

Asked why he returned the property if it was his, he replied: “Later we’ll prove that it’s ours.”

Commenting on video footage showing him removing bags of cash from a bank, he said the funds were deposits.

“Could it be that we robbed the bank? No, we withdrew deposit money and gave it,” he remarked.

As for the source of the large sums, Ghazaryan said they came from friends living in Russia.

Earlier, a new criminal case involving Serzh Sargsyan was sent to court, concerning the direct sale of Defense Ministry land on Isakov Avenue, in which Ghazaryan is also implicated.