On April 18, Armenian law enforcement officials filed additional criminal accusations against former PM Hovik Abrahamian after moving to seize a large part of his big fortune. 

Abrahamian, who served as PM from 2014 to 2016, was accused of abuse of power and illegal entrepreneurial activity in September 2018.

The prosecutor’s office revealed that he was involved, albeit indirectly through proxies, in managing a sand mining company and the legalization of large-sized assets and money acquired through illegal means.

As part of the ongoing criminal investigation, the Anti-Corruption Committee (ACC) announced that Abrahamian was also charged with money laundering. The ACC claimed that he failed to declare 230 million drams ($590,000) in ‘illegal revenue’ obtained from the quarry, allegedly used for purchasing real estate and engaging in other transactions.

The law-enforcement agency did not explain the delay in filing the additional charges against Abrahamian. It did not clarify why he had not yet gone to trial almost five years after his first indictment.