Tsarukian was initially charged with defrauding Iranian business partners. Prosecutors subsequently added the other charges to the indictment.
His arrest came weeks after his Prosperous Armenia party narrowly failed to clear the threshold for entering parliament in June 7 elections, claiming that it had been deprived of seats as a result of a controversial decision by the Central Election Commission.
During the election campaign, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian repeatedly accused Tsarukian and other opposition figures of being “warmongers” and “agents of foreign influence.” He vowed to have them prosecuted and jailed after his reelection.
Tsarukian’s arrest and prosecution have been accompanied by a crackdown on his business holdings. Law-enforcement officials raided a number of companies owned by him, suspending their operations.
The government subsequently appointed its managers at a cement plant and a brandy factory owned by Tsarukian, while his wellness center in Yerevan was taken over by the city authorities. The sports complex of the National Olympic Committee, which is also headed by Tsarukian, remains closed.
The Anti-Corruption Court has also recently accepted for consideration a lawsuit filed by the Prosecutor’s Office seeking to invalidate a 2003 auction of land in the village of Arinj, northeast of Yerevan, on which Tsarukian’s mansion is located.
In another lawsuit, prosecutors are seeking to invalidate a 2015 auction of land now belonging to the Tsarukian family on which a shopping mall is located in Arinj.
Tsarukian’s allies and supporters describe the measures as political persecution.
Prime Minister Pashinian has repeatedly defended the actions of law-enforcement bodies, describing them as part of his government’s efforts to combat corruption.
Arrests and asset-seizure measures were recently applied also to former President Robert Kocharian and members of his family as well as former State Revenue Committee chief Gagik Khachatrian.
“Let all corrupt officials, former and current, see that each and every one of them will have to answer for their actions,” Pashinian said at a weekly press briefing on Thursday.
“Those who have stolen money from the Republic of Armenia must be literally dispossessed,” he added.