The RA Investigative Committee informed earlier that former NA deputy Kh. On July 17, 2023, the separate part of the criminal proceedings regarding the kidnapping of Kokobelyan's father, an 84-year-old resident of the village of Achajur, Tavush region, and the extortion of a former member of the National Assembly, was sent to court with an indictment on 4 persons. And the preliminary investigation in the main criminal proceedings continued, within the framework of which the identity of one more member of the alleged criminal group, who is a citizen of the Islamic Republic of Iran, was revealed.
In particular, as a result of large-scale investigative and operational operations carried out by the Department of Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity of the Investigative Committee of the RA Investigative Committee of the Republic of Armenia S. Manukyan and a group of other persons, the 84-year-old S. Manukyan reached a preliminary agreement about kidnapping a man and extorting a particularly large sum of 3,000,000 US dollars from his relatives. Being in the Islamic Republic of Iran, in order to carry out their actions as covertly as possible and to reduce the risks of being discovered later, the citizen of Iran applied to his relative living in Iran to open a digital currency wallet to receive the above-mentioned amount in the form of cryptocurrency, citing that he could not do it personally.
After providing Bitcoin cryptocurrency account-wallet data, the latter, at the request of an Iranian citizen, also obtained a foreign Ukrainian virtual phone number, with which he opened the "WhatsApp" mobile application. After carrying out the mentioned actions, S. Manukyan, being in the Republic of Armenia, with the members of the criminal group in 2022. on July 27, early in the morning, they drove an "Opel" car to the house on the 1st street of Achajur settlement, Ijevan community, Tavush region, where they ambushed and waited for the 84-year-old resident of the said house. Around 07:00, when the latter left the yard of his house, using physical force, they put him in the said car against his will, closed his eyes and mouth and took him out of the village.
After a short time, the elderly man was transferred to a "TOYOTA LAND CRUISER PRADO 2.7" car, taken to the village of Tsater in Lori marz and kept in a guest house rented from one of the residents of the same village, where T. Poghosyan and another member of the criminal group alternately, masked, until 2022. On August 2, being constantly in the mentioned house, they watched over the elderly man.
Then S. Manukyan went to the Islamic Republic of Iran and met the aforementioned citizen of Iran. Continuing to carry out their criminal intention, the members of the group in 2022 On July 29, at 09:30, the son of an elderly man, Kh. Kokobelyan was sent a message through the WhatsApp application of the above phone number, demanding $3 million. In addition, they repeatedly presented ultimatums to the former deputy of the National Assembly, threatening that the latter's son would be the next.
As a result of the negotiations carried out through the "WhatsApp" application, an agreement was reached to release the elderly man in exchange for 200,000 US dollars. After receiving 20,000 USD of the specified amount to the cryptocurrency account sent by them in advance, in 2022. On August 2, St. Manukyan returned to Armenia from Iran and A. With K., taking the "HYUNDAI SONATA 2.4" car from their relative, they left Yerevan around 11:00 and arrived at Tsater settlement around 14:00. Before reaching the last place, T. P. closed the eyes of the elderly man with cotton and bandages, after which he was taken to the mentioned car and left. On the same day, around 17:30, in the forested area of the Dilijan-Ijevan highway, the members of the criminal group took the man out of the car, put him on a stone and left in the direction of the city of Ijevan. : Around 18:00, the 84-year-old man was found in the mentioned place. Continuing to fulfill the agreement reached, the relatives of the latter made a transfer equivalent to another 20,000 US dollars to the aforementioned cryptocurrency account in the above-mentioned manner.
Based on the obtained sufficient facts, the citizen of the Republic of Iran was charged with Article 191, Part 2, Clause 5 and Article 258, Part 3, Clause 3 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia, detention was chosen as a preventive measure against him.
The investigation is ongoing. It was found that the latter was investigated by the RA Criminal Court and sent to court with an indictment in another criminal proceeding accused of creating or leading a criminal organization, illegal trafficking of particularly large amounts of narcotics for sale by a criminal organization, as well as possession of particularly large amounts of narcotics for sale by a criminal organization for smuggling.
