Pashinyan’s government has detained Prosperous Armenia Party leader and businessman Gagik Tsarukyan after carrying out one of the largest coordinated operations against his business empire and organizations in recent years.
Tsarukyan has been charged with allegedly aiding large-scale fraud and money laundering as part of a criminal investigation into alleged offenses committed between 2022 and 2024, according to Armenia’s Investigative Committee. He is expected to appear before a court, where prosecutors will seek his pre-trial detention. His lawyer, Yerem Sargsyan, called the accusations “absurd and ridiculous.”
Authorities surrounded Tsarukyan’s residence early Monday morning, blocked access to the property, and carried out more than 12 hours of searches while simultaneously raiding nearly all companies belonging to the Multi Group concern, as well as the homes of several company directors.
Authorities also sealed the headquarters of the Armenian National Olympic Committee, which Tsarukyan has led since 2004, along with hotels he owns in the resort town of Tsaghkadzor. According to the Prosperous Armenia Party, the raids forced around ten companies operating within the Multi Group concern to halt operations, leaving approximately 7,000 employees unable to work.
The detention comes less than a month after authorities prevented Tsarukyan from leaving Armenia through Zvartnots International Airport after opening a separate criminal case accusing him of large-scale tax evasion. It also follows recent government actions involving AraratCement, further expanding Pashinyan’s government’s campaign against Tsarukyan’s business interests.
Tsarukyan has consistently denied wrongdoing and has repeatedly described the cases against him as politically motivated. One of Nikol Pashinyan’s most outspoken political opponents, he led the “Prosperous Armenia” alliance in the June 2026 parliamentary elections, where it narrowly failed to enter parliament after the results from three polling stations were invalidated, a decision later upheld by Armenia’s Constitutional Court.
