Former Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan has been charged with accepting a $3 million bribe in exchange for using his position to help a businessperson in 2008.
In a statement on 23 May, the Anti-Corruption Committee claimed that Sargsyan used his official position ‘to facilitate actions in favour of the CEO of [an unnamed] LLC, specifically by not obstructing the transaction of selling 100% of the company’s shares to a non-resident company in Armenia’.
The money was allegedly received in February and April of 2008 with the help of the Prime Minister’s Senior Assistant at that time.
If found guilty, Sargsyan could face up to 12 years in prison, in addition to the possible confiscation of his property. However, he is unlikely to be imprisoned given that, as his lawyer Amram Makinyan has stated, the statute of limitations has expired.
However, Makinyan told RFE/RL that they did not intend for the case to be terminated on that basis, insisting Sargsyan would clear his name in court.
RFE/RL also reported that for four years, former President Robert Kocharyan was also considered an accused party in the same case. His prosecution was terminated in December 2023 at his request due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.
A series of allegations
Since 2018, both Sargsyan and Kocharyan, former political allies, have faced a slew of charges and accusations.
The latest case was brought forward following a complaint from businessperson Silva Hambardzumyan who, after the 2018 revolution, alleged that she had paid substantial bribes to several officials, including Sargsyan and Kocharyan, to ensure her businesses faced no interference in their growth.
In March, other charges were brought against Sargsyan.
That month, Armenpress reported that Sargsyan had been charged as part of a case related to the ‘unlawful alienation of the plots of lands adjacent to Isakov Avenue and Yerablur Military Pantheon’ in Yerevan which were sold at a price lower than the market value.
The charges included ‘18 counts of grand theft, two counts of abuse of power and money laundering, and three counts of accessory to money laundering’, Armenpress reported.
Sargsyan was banned from leaving the country.
Makinyan told RFE/RL that the transactions took place in 2005, when Sargsyan served as Armenia’s Defence Minister.
The land was transferred to Toyota-Yerevan — 30% of the company belongs to Kocharyan’s son, Sedrak Kocharyan.
Before the new charges were brought against Sargsyan, on 18 April, Armenia’s Anti-Corruption Court of Appeals overturned a 2024 acquittal for embezzlement, sending the case back to the courts for a new trial.
Sargsyan, who was forced to step down following the 2018 Velvet Revolution, was charged in late 2019 and put on trial in early 2020. He was accused of embezzling more than ֏490 million ($1.2 million) from the state in 2013 through an agricultural assistance programme intended to provide farmers with cheaper petrol.
Sargsyan served as President of Armenia from 2008–2018, before being appointed Prime Minister. During his time in office, there were widespread allegations of corruption, a key driver of the 2018 revolution that ousted him from power.
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