May 20, 2026 at 07:50 PM

Armenia’s Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case against Narek Karapetyan, who leads the electoral list for Strong Armenia, a bloc founded by his uncle, the Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan. According to a statement on the agency’s website, Karapetyan concealed that he holds a second citizenship in order to participate in Armenia’s upcoming parliamentary elections on June 7.

Narek Karapetyan allegedly “submitted a false declaration to the Migration and Citizenship Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, asserting that he is not a citizen of another state and thereby concealing information about the existence of foreign citizenship that would prevent him from seeking the post of a public official,” according to the agency.

An investigation was opened under Armenia’s Criminal Code over allegations that information was concealed that could have barred a person from obtaining or holding public office.

On May 19, the Armenian outlet Medianews published an extract from Russia’s Unified State Register of Legal Entities (EGRUL), which indicated that Narek Karenovich Karapetyan is a citizen of Russia.

The Insider verified the data and confirmed that, according to EGRUL, Narek Karenovich Karapetyan is listed as a co-owner of the Moscow-based company Mospromekspluatatsiya LLC with a 2.5% stake. The document states that he is a Russian citizen.

Leaked Russian databases include an individual with the same full name and taxpayer identification number listed in the EGRUL extract. His passport number is shown as the letters “AN” followed by seven digits, a format used for Armenian passports. The website of Yerevan State University, Karapetyan’s alma mater, says he was born Oct. 31, 1990, while the leaked data lists his date of birth as Nov. 1, 1990.

Narek Karapetyan is the nephew of billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, the founder of Strong Armenia, which is registered to run in the June 7 parliamentary elections as part of a bloc of the same name. Narek Karapetyan tops the bloc’s electoral list. Samvel Karapetyan himself cannot run as he holds a Russian passport. Armenian law requires parliamentary candidates to have held only Armenian citizenship for at least four years.

In a May 19 investigation, The Insider published documents indicating links between Karapetyan Sr. and Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB). A source familiar with the billionaire’s entourage told The Insider that Samvel Karapetyan, who built his business empire in Russia, “has never been involved in politics” and that Moscow most likely forced him to “create the Strong Armenia bloc as a counterweight to Pashinyan.”

Samvel Karapetyan is under house arrest in Armenia while being investigated on suspicion of calling for the violent seizure of power, money laundering, and other crimes.