Armenian National Security Service declares ex-MP wanted for attacking customs committee chief's home in 2009
YEREVAN. Oct 8 (Interfax) - The Armenian National Security Service has declared former parliamentarian Levon Sargsyan wanted on suspicion of commissioning an attack on former State Customs Committee chairman Armen Avetisyan's home in 2009.
Sargsyan, "who had tense relations with Avetisyan, commissioned members of an already existing criminal group responsible for a number of armed robberies to commit this crime," the National Security Service said.
The criminal group had been set up by Ara Karapetyan, the founder of a footwear company, and Armen Nikogosyan, the former chief of a police department in Yerevan, it said.
Ten members of this group were sentenced to lengthy prison terms in 2011, the agency said.
"Following the armed robbery, Sargsyan took gold jewelry and an expensive watch that were among the items stolen. In October 2018, a mansion and an apartment belonging to Sargsyan were searched as part of a criminal case opened based on this information, and a large quantity of weapons and ammunition was discovered. Sargsyan has been charged with committing an armed assault as part of an organized group," it said.
As Sargsyan has been outside Armenia for a long time and his whereabouts are unknown, an arrest warrant has been issued, the agency said.