Yerevan’s Court of General Jurisdiction today approved a motion filed by the National Security Service (NSS) to arrest Gurgen Khachatryan, the son of former State Revenue Committee  chairman Gagik Khachatryan.

On January 14, Gurgen Khachatryan was accused of assisting his father, Gagik Khachatryan, in a large money embezzlement scheme.

On April 28, Gurgen Khachatryan declared that government officials had been pressuring him to sell the Ucom company at a loss, and that if he refused, he would be charged with committing a particularly serious crime and arrested.

He claimed that officials said that similar actions would be taken against his brother, other family members and friends.

On April 29, the charges against Gurgen Khachatryan were supplemented with accusations of large-scale money laundering and bribery, as well as a motion to detain him.

It should be noted that Sedrak Arustamyan, General Director of the Multi Group Concern LLC, was also arrested on the charges.

According to the accusation, Gurgen Khachatryan supported Arustamyan in giving a particularly large bribe. Then, in order to hide the criminal origin of the above-mentioned alleged bribe, he transferred it the banks accounts of overseas companies of people linked to Gagik Khachatryan's sons.

The NSS maintains that a loan agreement was faked to hide and cover up the criminal nature of the deal.

Lawyers for Gurgen Khachatryan and Sedrak Arustamyan claim that a loan agreement has been signed between their clients, which is still in force.

They claim the money transferred by Arustamyan must be returned according to the contract