Armenian law enforcement arrested businessman Samvel Karapetyan on Wednesday in a criminal case alleging 64.5 billion drams, about $180 million, in damage to Electric Networks of Armenia, the country’s electricity distribution company, reports Zartonk Media.
The Investigative Committee announced the arrest and said criminal prosecution had been initiated against Karapetyan and 35 other people. A prosecutor approved the prosecutions and an investigator ordered the arrests. The committee has not said how many of the others have been detained.
Searches were carried out on November 4 at 65 apartments and company addresses by the committee’s Main Department for Investigating Economic Crimes and Smuggling, with staff from the National Security Service, the Police and the State Revenue Committee. Karapetyan was taken to the committee and given the status of a detainee. Whether he will be remanded in custody is for a court to decide.
The committee alleges that an organized group directed by a person it identified in its statement only as “S.K.” committed 4 episodes of abuse of authority in the private sector between 2016 and 2024, 2 episodes of organizing the embezzlement of entrusted property on an especially large scale, and money laundering.
According to the committee, the group caused the company to take on loans beyond what its operations required, then moved the money out as dividends, loans and advance payments. About 23.16 billion drams were withdrawn in 2024 and 2025 and paid as dividends to two shareholders, Liormand Holdings Limited and Tashir Capital CJSC.
Executives of more than 10 interconnected companies allegedly disguised the origin of the funds through contracts and corporate transactions. The committee put the total damage at 64,585,780,024 drams.
None of the allegations has been established by a court. The pre-trial investigation is continuing.
Karapetyan founded the Moscow-based Tashir Group and leads the opposition Strong Armenia party. He was first arrested in June 2025, after voicing support for the Armenian Apostolic Church during its confrontation with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and has been under house arrest since December 30, 2025, in a case charging him with publicly calling for the seizure of power, money laundering, tax evasion and fraud. He denies those charges and calls the prosecution politically motivated.
Officers also searched the home of his nephew Narek Karapetyan, who heads the Strong Armenia parliamentary faction. He told reporters it was the fourth search of his home, that computers were seized, and that the searches were pressure from Pashinyan over his party’s opposition to the proposed new constitution. The government did not respond.
The Prosecutor General’s Office said no motion has been submitted to strip Narek Karapetyan or fellow Strong Armenia deputy Davit Ghazinyan of parliamentary immunity, which Armenian procedure requires before a sitting deputy can be prosecuted. Both men held senior positions at Electric Networks of Armenia.
Strong Armenia finished second in June’s parliamentary election with 23.3 percent and 29 seats. Pashinyan’s Civil Contract lacks the constitutional majority needed to send a new constitution to a referendum and would require at least 6 opposition votes.
Karapetyan acquired Electric Networks of Armenia in 2015. The government took operational control in July 2025, after his first arrest, citing national security. In October 2026 the cabinet declared 100 percent of its shares an overriding public interest, with full state ownership planned for late 2027. Compensation was promised and has not been paid.
Tashir Group has filed a $500 million arbitration claim against Armenia at the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce and says the takeover was unlawful. Armenian authorities proceeded with the seizure despite an emergency order from the arbitration body to halt it.
