A Yerevan court today signed off on a request filed by Armenia’s Prosecutor General’s Office to confiscate 19.1 billion AMD (US$ 47.2 million) worth of property and assets of illegal origin from former Syunik Provincial Governor Surik Khachatryan and five of his associates.

In June 2019, Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) launched a criminal case of abuse of power against Khachatryan.

Khachatryan, a controversial figure and member of the Republican Party of Armenia who resigned as Syunik governor in 2013 because of public pressure resulting from a shooting incident near his Goris home, was reappointed governor in September 2014 by then Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan.

He was sacked as governor two years later.