Prominent Armenian businessman convicted to 4-year imprisonment in Russia
Levon Hayrapetyan, a prominent Armenian businessman living in Russia, was found guilty for embezzlement of $700,000, TASS agency reports referring to the Moscow’s Zamoskvoretsky District Court verdict issued on April 14.
Hayrapetyan had been with embezzling $700,000 from Bashkistan’s senator Igor Izmestyev who is currently serving a life term for terrorism.
The businessman has repeatedly pleaded not guilty. According to his lawyer, the case had been framed up.
Earlier the prosecutor asked the court to sentence Hayraperyan to 7 years in prison
Hayrapetyan has been under house arrest since July 17, 2014. He was charged with two counts of embezzlement: those of the funds sold by the company Bashneft, and an amount of $700,000, which he allegedly received from the mother of Igor Izmestev, a former senator of Bashkortostan. Later on the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation did not confirm the charges in the first case and only the episode of embezzlement of funds from former senator Igor Izmestev remained under criminal investigation.