The prosecutor’s office of the Saratov region sent to the Engels district court a criminal case against businessman Armen Dzhulikyan, who is accused of fraud on an especially large scale and money laundering.
The investigation believes that in 2015 his company entered into an agreement for the supply of petroleum products abroad with a commercial organization controlled by him, but the contractual obligations were partially fulfilled. In addition, according to investigators, he illegally took possession of a land plot in Engels. Mr. Dzhulikyan himself, who previously acted as a witness in several high-profile cases, does not plead guilty and considers the case “custom-made”.
A criminal case against businessman Armen Dzhulikyan has been sent to the Engels District Court of the Saratov Region. According to the prosecutor’s office of the region, he is charged under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud committed on an especially large scale) and paragraph “b” part 4 of Art. 174.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (financial transactions with funds acquired by a person as a result of committing a crime, on an especially large scale).
According to the investigation, in March 2015, the director of NBA LLC, which was engaged in the transit of oil products, Mr. Dzhulikyan, using the Almaz LLC controlled by him, “abusing trust”, concluded an agreement with the director of the latter to supply oil abroad.
At the same time, according to the investigation, the NBA transferred 76.5 million rubles to Almaz, and the contractual relations were partially fulfilled.
After the funds were received on the settlement accounts of Almaz LLC as a payment for the supply of oil, they were credited to the accounts of 14 organizations located in the Saratov and Penza regions. Including more than 9.7 million rubles were received to the account of NBA LLC. “Subsequently, these funds were legalized by the attacker by drawing up a forged oil supply agreement between the organizations headed and controlled by him,” the prosecutor’s office specified.
Also, according to the investigation, acting through figureheads unaware of his intentions, Armen Dzhulikyan provided false documents to the registration authorities and the administration of the Engels district and unlawfully took possession of a land plot on the territory of Engels. Then the site was sold to third parties, and the district budget suffered damage in the amount of more than 7.5 million rubles.
“As part of the investigation of the criminal case, the defendant’s property was seized in the amount of more than 200 million rubles,” the prosecutor’s office said.
Armen Dzhulikyan is a well-known businessman from Saratov. According to Kartoteka.ru, he is the owner of NBA LLC (storage and warehousing of oil and its products), Smile Center LLC (dental practice), Esai LLC (food retail).
Armen Dzhulikyan was a key witness in one of the episodes of the criminal case against the former head of the Engels district Dmitry Lobanov. In March 2020, the Engels District Court of the Saratov Region found Lobanov guilty of taking a bribe (part 6 of article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) in the form of a townhouse on Pristanskaya Street in Engels from individual entrepreneurs Sergei Arkavenko and Valery Devyatkin and sentenced to eight years in prison.
At the same time, the court acquitted Dmitry Lobanov on the episode of receiving a bribe in the form of a “property benefit” in the amount of 5 million rubles. The investigation believed that Dmitry Lobanov, at the request of businessman Armen Dzhulikyan, helped businessman Boris Lanin to register a land plot in the Engels district as a property.
In return, Mr. Dzhulikyan allegedly lowered the price of the house that he was selling to Lobanov from 25 million rubles. up to 20 million rubles The court considered this episode of the bribe unproven, since the evidence was based on the testimony of only one person – Armen Dzhulikyan.
Based on the testimony of Armen Dzhulikyan, a criminal case was also built against the former head of the department for economic security and combating corruption of the regional Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Dmitry Elizarov. He was accused of taking two bribes totaling 7 million rubles. and legalization of funds obtained by criminal means (part 6 of article 290, part 6 of article 290 and part 2 of article 174.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The state prosecution requested that he be sentenced to ten years in prison, but Mr. Elizarov was acquitted, as the court considered the testimony of one witness insufficient for a guilty verdict.