The move follows the effective closure of dozens of Tsarukian-owned companies that were raided by security forces during his July 6 arrest. Later in July, courts allowed the Armenian government to take over the largest of them — a cement plant and a brandy distillery — pending verdicts on prosecutors’ demand to confiscate Tsarukian’s assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
The asset forfeiture case is unrelated to criminal charges levelled against the tycoon leading the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK). They include fraud, tax evasion and extortion. Tsarukian rejects the accusations as politically motivated.
Pashinian has repeatedly pledged to imprison and “dispossess” Tsarukian as well as the leaders of two other key opposition groups that challenged him in the June 7 parliamentary elections. In particular, he promised during the election campaign to “return to the people” the BHK leader’s properties, notably a hilltop villa just outside Yerevan.
Armenia’s Office of the Prosecutor-General announced on Wednesday that earlier this month its regional division appealed to a court to invalidate a 2003 auction in which Tsarukian and his wife purchased a vast plot of land occupied by their mansion and surrounding private compound. In a statement, it said the court last week banned the couple from selling the property before a verdict in the case.
The statement did not specify why the prosecutors want the land purchase to be declared null and void, something which would allow them to seize the villa.
Tsarukian’s political allies as well as other opposition figures say Pashinian’s public statements prove that the crackdown is politically motivated. They accuse law-enforcement authorities of carrying out Pashinian’s orders in breach of Armenian laws mandating their independence. The authorities deny this.
Other opposition leaders, notably Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetian, were also arrested following Pashinian’s furious statements. Karapetian was taken into custody in June 2025 just hours after the premier vowed to “deactivate” him.
