A Yerevan court has issued an arrest warrant for businessman Samvel Mayrapetyan, charged with being the middleman in a bribery payment of $7 million destined for former Armenian presidents Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan.

Mayrapetyan was allowed to leave Armenia on January 25, 2019 for medical treatment in Germany.

He was given a personal guarantee by Ruben Fanarjyan, Chief Neurosurgeon at the Ministry of Health, and Father Vahram Melikyan, Head of the information Department at the Mother See of Etchmiadzin, each paid 15 million drams as personal guarantees.

Mayrapetyan’s current whereabouts are unknown.

Fanarjyan and Melikyan have told the Special Investigative Service that they can’t guarantee that Mayrapetyan will appear before the court adjudicating his case.