Tax Evasion Charge Dropped Against Tsarukian

Tsarukian was charged with “large-scale” tax evasion and barred from leaving Armenia two days after the June 7 polls. Amid Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s continuing pledges to jail and “dispossess” his main political foes, the Investigative Committee indicted him without the Central Election Commission’s permission required by Armenian law.

The law-enforcement agency never shed light on the accusation. One of Tsarukian’s lawyers, Yerem Sargsian, told reporters on Tuesday it has been dropped “on the grounds of being illegal.”

The Investigative Committee filed fraud charges Tsarukian after searching his home and the offices of dozens of his companies and arresting him on July 6. The tycoon strongly denies the “fabricated” charges stemming from a financial dispute with his Iranian business partners. Sargsian again asserted that his client himself was defrauded by them.

On Tuesday, a handcuffed Tsarukian was taken to a committee building in Yerevan for what the lawyer described as an “additional interrogation.” Scores of his supporters greeted him outside the building with applause and “Tsarukian!” chants. The interrogation lasted for several hours and was still not over as of 7 p.m. local time.

The crowd included Suren Sureniants, a veteran politician allied to Tsarukian. Sureniants insisted that the BHK leader will not leave politics despite being deprived of liberty and risking losing his business assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

“His mood is combative and such a scenario is out of question,” Sureniants told reporters.

Meanwhile, virtually all of the companies making up Tsarukian’s Multi Group raided on July 6 remain effectively closed. The authorities have accused some of them of tax evasion but have still not clearly explained the closure of the others.