Only July 24, investigators officially charged businessman Levon Hayrapetyan on suspicion of money laundering and embezzlement. This was reported to RBC by the businessman’s lawyer, Samvel Karakhanyan.
Levon Hayrapetyan was arrested on July 15 at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport. His arrest was based on testimony by the former republic of Bashkortostan senator Igor Izmestiev, who is serving a life-sentence for a series of grave crimes.
On July 17, Moscow’s Basman District Court approved the detaining of the businessman until September 15. The court also confiscated his shares in the Russian company, Bashneft, which are worth over 300 million rubles.
On July 21, Hayrapetyan’s defense appealed the decision to keep him in pre-trial detention.
The Armenian businessman is suspected of laundering and squandering money obtained illegally as an accomplice of Ural Rakhimov in the 2009 sale of the Bashneft Company. Rakhimov controlled Bashneft for three years through the AFK Systema company.
Hayrapetyan does not admit his guilt and denies all the charges against him. His brother, Vladimir Hayrapetyan, considers the businessman’s arrest a means of political revenge.
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