Jailed tycoon Samvel Karapetyan faces more charges

Prosecutors have filed additional charges against Samvel Karapetyan, the billionaire business magnate who has been jailed since June this year on charges of publicly calling for the overthrow of the government — allegations he has repeatedly denied.

Kima Avdalyan, spokesperson for the Chairman of the Investigative Committee, told Armenpress that the new charges pertain to money laundering.

“The charge has been amended to include points 2 and 3 of Part 3 of Article 296 of the Criminal Code — money laundering in especially large amounts using official or service-related powers, or influence derived from them,” Avdalyan said.

Karapetyan is the owner of the Tashir Group of Companies. He is currently held in pre-trial detention without bail.