Armenia’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) today reported that it has charged former Yerevan Mayor Gagik Beglaryan with illegally acquiring AMD 2.3 billion worth of property while on the job and transferring ownership to individuals affiliated with him.

The ACC claims Beglaryan illegally acquired the real estate  when he served as Yerevan mayor and head of the Armenian capital’s Kentron administrative district.

AMD 2. 3 billion is equivalent to US$ 5.9 million based on current foreign exchange rates.

The ACC says it has charged Beglaryan and the former deputy head of the Kentron district with money laundering and abuse of official powers.

The ACC says some AMD 210 million has been recovered from Beglaryan and that liens have been placed on the twenty-seven properties in question.

Beglaryan fled Armenia in 2020 after the National Security Service issued a warrant for his arrest for his involvement in a scheme to seize a Yerevan kindergarten in 2009 worth 233.5 million drams.

He returned to Armenia in 2021 and turned himself in to law authorities.

Armenia’s Investigative Committee, in 2023, launched criminal proceedings against Beglaryan and three other former high-ranking government officials  based on a Hetq article revealing that they and their relatives failed to declare their expensive properties in Dubai.

See: Hetq Article Prompts Criminal Probe of Former Armenian Officials Who Failed to Declare Dubai Properties

Beglaryan also served as Armenia’s Minister of Transport and Communications (2012-2016).