A new criminal case involving Armenia’s third President Serzh Sargsyan, investigated by the Anti-Corruption Committee, has been forwarded to court with a formal indictment.

The investigation revealed that from 2000 to 2018, during his terms as defense minister, prime minister, president, and again prime minister, Sargsyan allegedly engaged in commercial activities through trusted associates, violating legal restrictions tied to his public office.

According to investigators, Sargsyan facilitated the involvement of M.B., a close associate, and M.B.’s companies in the founding of a bitumen plant in Surenavan, Ararat Province, which was promoted as a foreign investment project.

To implement this plan, on February 20, 2006, a company involving M.B. partnered with two Russian firms registered in Cyprus to establish a new joint venture. Through M.B., Sargsyan allegedly instructed that 50% of the company be registered in M.B.’s firm’s name, and the remaining 50% with the Russian firms.

Later, Sargsyan demanded that 22.5% of M.B.’s stake be transferred—under the guise of a bribe—to a company established by his nephew and the son of Armenia’s second president. Investigators claim M.B. fulfilled this demand on March 14, 2008, through a sham transaction and capital injection into the new entity.

In 2013, after the joint venture failed, foreign investors sought to sell their shares. Sargsyan allegedly oversaw the process and instructed M.B. to request a $14 million loan from a bank connected to him to reimburse the Russian investors, which M.B. did.

Sargsyan then worked with M.B. to sell the assets of his firms, including the new company. He ensured this sale benefited his son-in-law and related entities. As a result, M.B. established a new company which acquired various assets, including 23 gas stations, an oil depot, and the bitumen plant.

On August 22, 2015, a company tied to Sargsyan’s son-in-law purchased 100% of M.B.’s company for $40 million, effectively gaining monopoly control over fuel imports.

Sargsyan later demanded that M.B. pay $6 million to the second president’s son as an additional bribe for the earlier share transfer. M.B. complied, transferring the amount under a fictitious loan agreement.

Sargsyan now faces charges of receiving large-scale bribes and unlawfully participating in prohibited entrepreneurial activity. The investigation has concluded, and the case has been sent to Armenia’s Anti-Corruption Court.