Senior figure from Karapetyan’s Strong Armenia Alliance detained on money laundering charges
A senior member of Russian–Armenian tycoon Samvel Karapetyan’s Strong Armenia Alliance, Alik Aleksanyan, has been arrested and remanded to pre-trial detention for two months on suspicion of money laundering and bribing people to attend political rallies.
If convicted, he could face up to 12 years in prison.
Aleksanyan, who has appeared prominently in the alliance’s election campaign but is not running for parliament, was reportedly excluded from the party list due to Armenia’s ban on dual citizens serving as MPs.
According to Armenia’s Investigative Committee, Aleksanyan used the Karapetyan-affiliated Preservation of National Values in Our Way NGO, which he headed, to ‘recruit participants’ for rallies linked to Karapetyan and the Strong Armenia Alliance between September 2025 and May 2026.
Investigators allege that the scheme was disguised as legitimate employment. Authorities claim Aleksanyan hired around 1,400 people through the organisation’s regional branches across Armenia.
Between October 2025 and March 2026, the organisation allegedly received ֏1.6 billion ($4.4 million), €230,000 ($260,000), and $75,000 from organisations affiliated with Karapetyan, including the Tashir Charitable Foundation. Investigators claim the funds, transferred as ‘donations’ and ‘loans’, were proceeds generated from criminal activity.
According to the Investigative Committee, ‘during the same period, in order to legitimise a particularly large amount of money of criminal origin under the pretext of legal activity’, Aleksanyan paid employees salaries and service fees while materially incentivising them to participate in demonstrations and rallies.
Authorities further allege that many of the employees either did not perform any work or visited the NGO’s offices only occasionally, without ‘realising the nature and purpose of their functions in the public organisation’.
Later, Aleksanyan reportedly dismissed the employees and, in total, allocated over ֏763 million ($2.1 million) as their salaries. Investigators have questioned around 500 people as part of the case.
His arrest comes days ahead of the 7 June parliamentary elections and amidst dozens of investigations launched by Armenian authorities in recent months into alleged vote-buying, prohibited charitable activity during the election campaign, and payments allegedly given to people for participation in rallies linked to Karapetyan and his political bloc.
‘They are committing another act of stupidity, another unlawful action. There isn’t a single person on our team who would even know how to launder money’, Karapetyan said in a press briefing after Aleksanyan’s arrest.
Arshaluys Barseghyan
Karapetyan himself was charged with money laundering in July 2025, which came on top of earlier charges of calling for the seizure of power from the state.
In a video message recorded before his arrest and published afterwards, Aleksanyan claimed the case stemmed from the government's ‘fear, weakness, helplessness’.
Separately, Armenian authorities have announced several vote-buying investigations involving individuals affiliated with Strong Armenia, Prosperous Armenia, and Armenia Alliance — all major opposition groups.
Karapetyan’s alliance, according to polls, is expected to be the ruling Civil Contract’s main challenger in the upcoming elections.
Arshaluys Barseghyan
In late April, another senior Strong Armenia Alliance member, Artur Avanesyan, was arrested on suspicion of electoral bribery. Although not a candidate, Avanesyan is described by the alliance as the head of its security team, responsible for planning the party’s security policies.
