On September 1, 2026, the prosecutor referred to the First Instance Criminal Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan City the materials of the criminal proceedings concerning the persons accused of misappropriating AMD 1 billion 73 million 486 thousand from 59 citizens and attempting to misappropriate AMD 38 million 879 thousand from another 19 citizens.

The criminal proceedings investigated by the Investigative Committee established that foreign nationals M.Sh., M.M., A.P., a person known as “Max”, and other persons whose identities have not been established by the investigation created a criminal organization and participated in its activities during the period from September 26, 2025, to April 21, 2026.

The members of the criminal organization, complementing one another’s actions, developed a unified mechanism for committing fraud on an especially large scale. In particular, using mobile phone numbers registered in the names of H.B. and R.S., who assisted the criminal organization, as well as mobile phone numbers registered in their own names, they created fake accounts on the “WhatsApp” and “Viber” applications using the names and photographs of persons well known to the public.

Messages were sent from those accounts to the acquaintances of the persons concerned, stating that their acquaintance was experiencing problems with various state authorities and that, in this connection, an employee of the National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia would contact them.

They then called citizens, posing as employees of the National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia under various names, including “Davit Oganesyan (father’s name: Ashot)” “Captain Vazgen Harutyunyan”, “Gurgen Simonyan (father’s name: Levoni)”, “Vahan Poghosyan (father’s name: Seyrani)” and “Arman Sargsyan (father’s name: Tigrani)” exerted psychological pressure on them, created an atmosphere of fear and anxiety by informing them of alleged problems concerning their financial assets, demanded that they maintain confidentiality, and instructed them to follow the directions of a person purportedly employed by the Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia.

They then further strengthened the victims’ trust by posing as an employee of the Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Armenia under the name “Davit Nikoyan”.

Continuing their criminal activities, the members of the criminal organization also posed as employees of the Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia under various names, presented forged identification documents, and convinced citizens that, in order to avoid potential problems, they needed to transfer the funds held in their bank accounts to other, purportedly “safe” accounts.

Acting with a single common intent, the members of the criminal organization misappropriated a total of AMD 1 billion 73 million 486 thousand from 59 citizens and attempted to misappropriate AMD 38 million 879 thousand from 19 citizens.

M.M. has been placed on the wanted list.

The part of the criminal proceedings separated with respect to M.Sh., A.P., H.B., and R.S., together with the approved indictment, has been referred to the competent court.

 

Notice: A person charged with any crime shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty in the manner prescribed by the RA Criminal Procedure Code — by the judgment came into legal force.