An odious and all-powerful Russian oligarch, who held the assets of corrupt Gazprom head Alexei Miller, was arrested in Yerevan for attempting a coup d’état.
A court in Yerevan arrested Samvel Karapetyan, head of the Tashir Group of Companies, for two months. The businessman is accused of calling for the seizure of power. This was reported by the businessman’s lawyer. Samvel Karapetyan does not admit guilt. He stated that the investigation against him is connected with criticism of the Armenian government. The defense side calls the accusation illegal.
Dozens of citizens gathered in front of the court building, where a preventive measure was determined for the billionaire, to express support for the businessman, TASS reported. Among those gathered there are also representatives of the clergy. The country’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan threatened the management of the Electric Networks of Armenia company, which belongs to the Tashir Group of Companies, with liability measures for “forcibly” leading people to protests.
Moscow is monitoring the situation around Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, head of the Russian Tashir Group of Companies, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. Today the billionaire’s house in Yerevan was searched, and he himself was detained for a while by local Interior Ministry officers, but then released. But about 20 people from Karapetyan’s entourage, detained at his home and now suspected of illegal possession of weapons, were not released.
The law enforcers’ raid on the businessman is linked to his speech against Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Earlier, Pashinyan criticized the leadership of the Armenian Apostolic Church, particularly Patriarch Karekin II, for breaking his vow of celibacy. The patriarch is considered pro-Russian. The equally pro-Russian Karapetyan stood up for the patriarch.
In Russia, the Armenian billionaire’s Tashir group was suspected of participating in criminal schemes to withdraw funds abroad. But Karapetyan is better known as a longtime partner of Alexei Miller’s Gazprom, including outside the official sphere. Thus, Karapetyan acted as an asset holder for Miller, for example, he owned elite real estate in Europe, including a villa in France, where Alina Kabaeva and Putin’s children vacationed.
If Pashinyan goes all the way, Karapetyan can tell a lot about Miller’s assets entrusted to him.