The Armenian Investigative Committee's Cybercrime and High-Tech Crime Investigation Division has obtained substantial evidence during the preliminary investigation of a criminal case indicating that S.C., between 2021 and 2025, was a member of a criminal organization and served as the director of a company created for the purpose of committing computer thefts and money laundering. He established and operated fake or nominal content websites and internet platforms.
"Based on the bank accounts of the mentioned company, payment terminals for card and remote payments were received and operated from banks, where illegally obtained data of thousands of cardholders issued by foreign banks (card number, cardholder's name and surname, card security code, expiration date, and other identifying information) were entered without legal, contractual, or otherwise lawful grounds. Subsequently, transactions carried out using the mentioned data were presented as if they were internet purchases or acquisitions of goods and services, while in reality, no goods or services were provided, resulting in the members of the criminal organization illegally appropriating a particularly large sum of 538,366,761 AMD belonging to the victim cardholders.
At the same time, S.C., along with other members of the criminal organization, made numerous transfers through companies created in their name, as well as through a patriotic charitable organization, to distort and conceal the source of the property obtained through the aforementioned criminal means amounting to 538,366,761 AMD, hiding the emergence of available funds in banks, converting them, transferring the stolen money to both their own and the bank accounts and electronic wallets actually controlled by accomplices, to the gaming accounts of companies registered in their name, placing bets, after which the accumulated funds in the accounts were transferred to the bank cards and electronic wallets controlled by them, and created and presented a false loan agreement, using the mentioned funds to acquire crypto-assets and legalize the particularly large sum obtained through criminal means," the Investigative Committee's statement reported.
Against S.C., a public criminal prosecution has been initiated by the supervising prosecutor for participation in a criminal organization, committing particularly large computer theft and particularly large money laundering.
The criminal case against the member of the criminal organization has been sent to the supervising prosecutor with an accusatory conclusion.
Notice: The accused in a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in accordance with the procedure established by the Criminal Procedure Code by a court decision that has entered into legal force.
