Spartak Ghukasyan, son of Gyumri Mayor Vardan Ghukasyan, has been arrested on an extortion charge.

Investigative Committee spokesperson Kima Avdalyan tells Hetq that a preliminary inquiry in the case is ongoing.

Vardan Ghukasyan was reelected as mayor of Armenia’s second largest city last April after a thirteen-year hiatus.

In 2022, Vardan Ghukasyan was charged with illegally expropriating plots of land, some state-owned, while mayor between 1999 and 2012.