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Armenia’s former Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan has been detained on suspicion of embezzlement of large sums of money, the National Security Service (NSS) said in a statement on Thursday.

Arms dealer Davit Galstyan, better known as Patron Davo, has also been detained as part of a criminal investigation into numerous violations and abuse of power during the purchase of weapons for the needs of the Armenian army.

Tonoyan and Galstyan are accused of stealing around 2.3 billion drams (about $4.7 million), committing publicly dangerous acts and fraud. Motions for their arrest have been filed to the court, the NSS said.

In addition, criminal charges have been brought against other former and current senior military officials for abuse of power and fraud.

The NSS states that large-scale investigative measures are being taken to fully disclose the whole chain of crimes and to identify all the persons involved.

The NSS promised to provide updates on the course of the preliminary investigation of the high-profile case and the final results.