Why Silva Hambardzumyan Transferred Huge Sums to Oskanian: "Zhoghovurd"

The newspaper "Zhoghovurd" continues to publish the testimonies of former high-ranking officials who provided statements in the "March 1" case. Former Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian has given an extensive testimony related to the "March 1" case, sharing some noteworthy details, but these have no connection to the events of March.

For instance, the investigator asked: "Have you ever entered into a transaction with Silva Hambardzumyan, or received money from her? If yes, what kind of transaction was it, how much money did you receive, when and for what purpose?"

In response, Oskanian stated, "I have never entered into any transaction with Silva Hambardzumyan, nor have I ever concluded any agreement with her. Regarding receiving money from Silva, I do remember one such instance, which was at her request."

He recalled, "I do not remember the specific period in 2008, but I had already left the position of minister. At that time, one of my acquaintances from Aleppo, who is of Syrian-Armenian heritage, wanted to sell some gold jewelry, and Silva wanted to buy that jewelry. The jewelry was at that time in Yerevan. My involvement was that the mentioned Syrian-Armenian asked me to facilitate the transfer of the jewelry's payment."

Oskanian explained that he called Silva, who then transferred the payment of 40,000 USD to his bank account in Belgium. He then cashed the amount and handed it over to the Syrian-Armenian acquaintance, whose name he could not recall.

When further questioned, Oskanian was reminded that investigations revealed that Silva Hambardzumyan transferred money in his name in 2008, specifically 10,000 USD on July 2, 40,000 USD on July 29, 50,000 USD on July 31, and 50,000 USD on August 7, totaling 150,000 USD. He was asked why this sum was transferred to his account if it was not related to the transaction mentioned.

Oskanian replied, "Honestly, I do not remember. But I should also mention that as I said earlier, Silva transferred 40,000 USD to me for the jewelry mentioned, so my uncertainty pertains to the remaining 110,000 USD."

For more details, see this week's issue of the newspaper.