YEREVAN, AUGUST 31, ARMENPRESS. Reputed crime boss Andranik “Zap Leninakansky” Soghoyan is under arrest for allegedly leading an organized crime syndicate as a “thief in law”.

The Committee of Investigations said the man was in charge of an organized crime group since February 22, 2020 and “used his illegal influence by issuing instructions to members of a criminal subculture group to resolve a problem of a private matter”.

Soghoyan is said to have used his influence as a thief in law to release a man who was being kept by another mafia member in Garni on July 11 in a financial dispute.

Soghoyan is charged with Article 223.2 – Creating or Leading a Criminal Subculture Group.

Under the Armenian law enacted earlier this year, it is illegal to belong to a “criminal subculture” even if no specific other crime has been committed.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan