Search launched for ex-minister's son

PanARMENIAN.Net - A court has ordered the arrest of Artyom Khachatryan, the son of former Armenian Finance Minister Gagik Khachatryan, as a preventive measure. The Investigative Committee said a search has been launched for him because he is not currently in the Republic of Armenia, reports Armenpress.

The legal team of former Finance Minister and former State Revenue Committee Chairman Gagik Khachatryan stated that the court’s unfounded decision to impose detention on Artom Khachatryan as a preventive measure will naturally be appealed before the Court of Appeal.

According to the statement, Artyom Khachatryan has been abroad since May 30. Following medical examinations conducted there, doctors reportedly instructed him not to leave the medical facility until June 19 and to undergo necessary treatment. The lawyers said documents confirming these circumstances exist and were submitted to the investigative body. However, they argue that these substantiated documents were disregarded and that investigators unlawfully petitioned the court to apply detention as a preventive measure against Artyom Khachatryan as well.

The case was assigned to Anti-Corruption Court Judge Aram Grigoryan. The lawyers noted that after the June 11, 2026 government meeting, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that Aram Grigoryan had issued an acquittal in another high-profile case and expressed the belief that the verdict had been delivered in exchange for a bribe.

“The court unjustifiably granted the motion seeking the detention of Artyom Khachatryan. This is despite the fact that the pre-trial investigation concerning the incident attributed to him had been conducted as early as 2019–2020, and at that time no criminal offense had been identified in connection with the matter. Yet, just days before the elections, the same incident was suddenly and unlawfully transformed into a criminal case solely so that the above-mentioned individuals could be detained,” the statement said.

The legal team called on justice institutions to “act exclusively within the framework of the law and not succumb to the so-called provocations of the political authorities.”

On June 5, detention orders were issued in a case involving alleged abuse of official powers and money laundering related to property valued at more than 200 million drams. Those targeted included former Education and Science Minister Armen Ashotyan, former Finance Minister Gagik Khachatryan, his son Artyom Khachatryan, former Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan, former rector of Valery Bryusov State University Gayane Gasparyan, former vice-rector Artur Avagyan, and former deputy director of Yerevan Mall Harutyun Tadevosyan.

According to investigators, a 451.1-square-meter property and its associated land plot at 59 Pushkin Street 38/1 in Yerevan’s Kentron district, valued at 208,908,500 drams, were removed from the ownership fund of the Republic of Armenia through an alleged corruption scheme and transferred for non-educational use to the ownership fund of a high-ranking official and a person associated with that official.