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Businessman Levon Hayrapetyan denied defrauding the mother of Russian ex-senator Igor Izmestyev of $700,000, the correspondent of RIA Novosti reported from Moscow’s Zamoskvoretski court.

“I did not commit that crime. I am not guilty,” Hayrepatyan said after the prosecutor read the indictment.

According to the investigators, the businessman misled the woman by promising to ensure a more lenient sentence for her son for a large sum of money, while in reality Hayrapetyan was unable to influence the court decision. 

In another case, Hayrapetyan is charged with involvement in the 2009 sale of Bashneft Company shares to AFK Sistema  by Ural Rakhimov. Bashneft shares were returned to the state by the decision of a Russian arbitration court.

Hayrapetyan faces up to 10 years in prison on charges of defrauding the woman of $700,000.
He has dual citizenship and owns property abroad, In particular, he lived in Monaco prior to his detention. The investigators explained their decision to place Hayrapetyan in an isolation ward by that fact. In early October the businessman was put under house arrest. His lawyer asked earlier to release L. Hayrapetyan due to his poor health.