Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) today issued a statement claiming that it has irrefutable evidence directly linking Sedrak Kocharyan, son of ex-Armenian President Robert Kocharyan, to a money laundering and tax evasion scheme.

In an interview with the website 2rd.am, Sedrak Kocharyan described the charges as a fabrication and accused Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan of waging a campaign of slander against his family.

The NSS, in its statement, says that Sedrak Kocharyan created a dummy company to launder US$5.3 million and thus evade paying taxes of 916.7 million drams.

The NSS says that Kocharyan then deposited the above sum in his personal bank account, legalized a number of transactions and exchanges, and used the money to purchase the Best Western Congress Hotel in Yerevan

“Large-scale investigative actions are being taken to gauge the legitimacy of the acquisition of numerous real estate and other assets by Sedrak Kocharyan and his family, and the preliminary investigation on the criminal case continues,” the NSS statement concludes.