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The Armenian Prosecutor General's Office has decided to return a bail of 100 million drams (about $240,000) to the chief conductor of the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, Sergey Smbatyan, who was acquitted of fraud charges in late October, his lawyer Yervand Varosyan told TASS on Tuesday.

"Today we received the prosecutor’s decision on the return of bail money to Sergey Smbatyan. On 27 October, by the decision of the same prosecutor, the criminal prosecution against Sergey Smbatyan was ended and he was acquitted. After the expiration of the 15-day deadline for appealing the ruling, it was decided to return the paid bail as well. Thus, we can state that the criminal odyssey involving Sergey Smbatyan has come to an end," he said.

Sergey Smbatyan and his father Armen Smbatyan, Armenia’s former ambassador to Russia and Israel, were arrested on suspicion of large-scale fraud in late July.