Seven Armenian Ministry of Economy employees were arrested Wednesday on “abuse of power” charges following a probe into a government tender process for services designed for the Public Investment Projects Bank.

Ani Ispiryan was sacked as deputy economy minister one day before her arrest.

Ani Gevorgyan, wife of Armenian National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonian’s brother Karlen, was also detained. 

The arrests follow a raid on the Ministry of Economy offices in Yerevan.

Armenia’s Investigative Committee, in a statement, claims ministry officials disqualified a private entity from the procurement tender to make sure that it was won by another bidder that charged a much higher sum. 

Following the arrests, Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan said none of those detained have been charged with bribery or embezzling state funds.

Kerobyan said an objective investigation will find that no procurement violations occurred.

Ashot Hovanesian, founder of the software development company Synergy International System that won the tender, was placed in pre-trial detention.

Hovanesian and two company employees are accused of aiding and abetting the ministry officials.

Photo (from left): Ashot Hovanesian, Ani Gevorgyan, Ani Ispiryan