Armenia’s Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) has summoned Archbishop Navasard Kjoyan, Vicar General of the Araratian Pontifical Diocese, for questioning regarding the legality of some of his possessions.

The PGO’s Department for the Confiscation of Property of Illicit Origin, in a statement, doesn’t specify what possessions are in question.

Kjoyan’s name surfaced in a 2013 Hetq investigation of the offshore holdings of various Armenian government and church officials. (See: Cyprus Troika).

In 2020, Armenia’s National Security Service charged Kjoyan with fraud and money laundering in the case that defrauded businessman Paylak Hayrapetyan out of millions of dollars.

WLISPERA HOLDINGS LIMITED, an offshore company registered in Cyprus, was involved in the case.

It was owned by then Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, Kjoyan and Ashot Sukiasyan. 

Photo: Photolur