A court in Yerevan swiftly allowed the Anti-Corruption Committee (ACC) to keep Vartan Harutiunian in pre-trial custody on charges of involvement in illegal entrepreneurial activity and money laundering.
Harutiunian headed the SRC from October 2016 until the “velvet revolution” that brought Nikol Pashinian to power in May 2018. He served in the cabinet of then Prime Minister Karen Karapetian (no relation to Samvel).
The accusations levelled against Harutiunian stem from a criminal case opened by another law-enforcement agency, the National Security Service (NSS), just weeks after the 2018 regime change. The NSS arrested at the time three senior executives of a customs brokerage firm reportedly linked to him. It said the firm called Norfolk Consulting earned millions of dollars thanks to a “special privileged status” enjoyed by it. Harutiunian was not charged or even questioned by investigators.
Harutiunian’s lawyer, Armen Andrikian, dismissed the accusations as “totally baseless,” arguing that his client was cleared any connection to Norfolk in 2018.
Harutiunian is a figure close to former Karen Karapetian, who is in turn a friend of Samvel Karapetian. The Moscow-based billionaire was arrested on June 18 hours after condemning Pashinian’s efforts to depose the top clergy of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
Samvel Karapetian was initially charged with calling for a violent overthrow of the government. The authorities brought more criminal charges against him last month as he pressed ahead with plans to set up a new opposition group in advance of Armenia’s next general elections due in June 2026.
The 59-year-old tycoon is not eligible to run for the post of prime minister because of his dual Russian citizenship. Some media outlets speculated later in July that Karen Karapetian will top the new party’s list of election candidates. The once popular ex-premier, who has deplored the tycoon’s prosecution, has not yet commented on such a possibility.
Thousands of people rallied in Yerevan on July 4 to demand Samvel Karapetian’s release from jail. According to news reports, Harutiunian and members of his family were among the demonstrators.