Mikayel Minasyan
Mikayel Minasyan 
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|---|---|
| Name in Armenian | Միքայել Մինասյան |
| Birthplace | Yerevan |
| Birth date | 1 October 1977 |
| Lived in | Yerevan, Rome, Trieste, Venice |
| Languages | Armenian, Italian, Russian |
| Ethnicities | Armenian |
| Dialects | Eastern Armenian |
| Spouses | Anush Sargsyan |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Ara Minasyan, Serzh Sargsyan |
In April 2020, Armenia’s State Revenue Committee (SRC) brought corruption charges against Mikayel Minasyan, Armenia’s former ambassador to Vatican City (2013-2018) and former President Serzh Sargsyan’s son-in-law. Minasyan is accused of illegal enrichment, false asset disclosure and money laundering. According to the statement by the Committee, Minasyan’s 2017-2018 asset declaration (which he was required to submit as a public official) shows that his assets have significantly increased, and their acquisition cannot be justified by legitimate income. Within the same reporting period, Minasyan also failed to fully disclose his assets and legalized a particularly large number of illegally-acquired properties.
One of Minasyan’s lawyers, Armam Makinyan, told Azatutyun that the money laundering charge stems from large sums of cash which Minasyan transferred from one of his bank accounts to another in 2017-2018. He also insisted that the other accusations are based on a “technical error” committed by the employee of a private firm which prepared and filed Minasyan’s income declarations. A search warrant has been issued against Minasyan. There is also a court order to arrest Minasyan, but his whereabouts remain unknown.
A lien has been placed on the shares of a number of companies affiliated with Minasyan, including DzoraHEK hydroelectric plant, Opera Suite hotel, Jazzve cafe, Panarmenian Media Group, Armenia TV Company and Velofirma Ltd.
Source: https://www.evnreport.com/politics/primer-post-revolution-criminal-cases