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Ten doctors of Yerevan’s Medline Medical Center, who were detained over misuse of government funds provided for the fight against Covid-19, have been released amid absence of motions for their arrest.

Earlier in March, a Yerevan court ordered the arrest of Medline Deputy Director Lilya Hovakimyan sought by the Anti-Corruption Committee (ACC) as part of the ongoing criminal probe.

The director of the private clinic, Babken Shahumyan, and Deputy Yerevan Mayor Gevorg Simonyan, who formerly served as deputy health minister, were also placed under arrest.

Lusine Yeghiazaryan, another suspect in the case who heads the Department of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis at the National Center of Pulmonology and is said to have close ties with Health Minister Anahit Avanesyan, is under house arrest.

They are accused of embezzling 119 million drams in emergency funding allocated by the government following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

The abuse of funds was committed during former Health Minister Arsen Torosyan’s tenure. He is now an MP representing the ruling Civil Contract party.

The Anti-Corruption Committee declined to provide any comments to Panorama.am. The agency is generally trying to keep the case out of the public eye. One of its reasons could be the sponsorship by pro-government figures.