YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 26, ARMENPRESS. The Special Investigative Service of Armenia has launched a new investigation into suspected money laundering committed by Vachagan Ghazaryan and his wife Ruzanna Beglaryan.

Vachagan Ghazaryan is a former first deputy chief of the State Protection Service, a body under the National Security Service. He is currently jailed on other charges.

According to the Special Investigative Service, the preliminary probe revealed that Ghazaryan and his wife have managed the profits gained from the activities of Yans, an upscale restaurant complex in downtown Yerevan. They are suspected in tax evasion amounting to more than 1,500,000 dollars (771,000,000 drams) from 2013 to 2018.

Authorities said the suspects converted the money and deposited it in various Armenian banks, and in turn profited from interest rates. They also used the money to buy real estate, which in turn have been leased, producing further revenue. A probe is underway.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan