The Saratov region prosecutor's office has brought a criminal case against businessman Armen Dzhulikyan to the Engels district court, accusing him of large-scale fraud and money laundering.
Investigators believe that in 2015, his company made a deal to sell oil products abroad with an organization he controlled, but did not fully fulfill the contract. Additionally, they claim he illegally obtained a piece of land in Engels. Mr. Dzhulikyan, who was previously a witness in high-profile cases, denies the charges and believes the case was planned against him.
The prosecutor's office of the Saratov Region has charged businessman Armen Dzhulikyan under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (large-scale fraud) and paragraph “b” part 4 of Art. 174.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (financial transactions with illegally obtained funds on a large scale).
According to the investigation, in March 2015, the director of NBA LLC, which conducted oil product transit, Mr. Dzhulikyan, through his company Almaz LLC, used deception to make a deal with the director of the former to supply oil abroad.
At that time, NBA transferred 76.5 million rubles to Almaz, and the fulfillment of the contract was partial.
After receiving payment for oil supply, the funds were moved to the accounts of 14 organizations in the Saratov and Penza regions, including over 9.7 million rubles to the NBA LLC account. Later, these funds were made legal by creating a fake oil supply agreement between organizations controlled by Dzhulikyan.
The investigation also states that using intermediaries unaware of his plans, Armen Dzhulikyan submitted false documents to authorities and unlawfully took control of land in Engels. The land was then sold to others, causing more than 7.5 million rubles in damage to the district budget.
The prosecutor’s office mentioned that property worth over 200 million rubles was seized as part of the investigation.
Armen Dzhulikyan is a well-known businessman in Saratov and the owner of NBA LLC (storage and warehousing of oil and its products), Smile Center LLC (dental practice), and Esai LLC (food retail), according to Kartoteka.ru.
Armen Dzhulikyan was a significant witness in a criminal case against the former head of the Engels district Dmitry Lobanov. Lobanov was found guilty of bribery and sentenced to eight years in prison in March 2020.
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.
