Hollywood producer Stepan Martirosyan was removed from the Russia

The Prosecutor General's Office and the Moscow City Court decided to extradite the filmmaker of Armenia.
25.05.2018
Kommersant
Origin source
Executive producer of the Hollywood blockbuster "Plan of escape" Stepan Martirosyan decided to extradite from Russia to Armenia. The investigation believes that at home, he "threw" $ 50 million to the owner of the Armbusinessbank Vitaly Grigoryants, promising that profitable investment in the film business.

The criminal case against Stepan Martirosyan was initiated by the Armenian Prosecutor General's Office in September 2017. According to his story, the owner of Armbusinessbank Vitaly Grigoriants through Stepan Martirosyan during 2011-2013 invested $ 97 million in the production of American films. Mr. Martirosyan, who lives in the USA, as an executive producer participated in the creation of such films as "Survivor" and "The City of Vice" with Mark Wahlberg in the lead roles, "Frozen Land", "Patrol" and "Plan of Escape" with Arnold Schwarzenegger , Sylvester Stallone and Jake Gyllenhaal. According to the producer, the investment did not materialize, since the rental of films in which he invested money failed. In turn, Mr. Grigoryants through the lawyers found out that the partner left half of the invested money - $ 50 million.

In October 2017, Mr. Martirosyan was indicted in absentia under Art. 178 of the Criminal Code of Armenia (fraud), he was put on the wanted list and arrested in absentia by the court. As a result, the producer who arrived in Domodedovo was detained, and Deputy Prosecutor General Nikolay Vinichenko, having satisfied the request of his colleague from Armenia, ruled on the extradition of Mr. Martirosyan, supported by the Moscow City Court. The Supreme Court, having reviewed the appeal of the defense, canceled the extradition, sending the case for a new trial.

Yesterday in court, lawyers in absentia accused asked to cancel the decision of the deputy prosecutor, and the producer himself to release from custody, giving him the opportunity to fly to the US. At the same time, they pointed to numerous inconsistencies in the criminal prosecution of Mr. Martirosyan. So, for example, it was found out that in Armenia the case against him was initiated not according to Art. 178 of the Criminal Code, but, confusing the figures, according to Art. 187 - obstruction of lawful entrepreneurial activity. At the same time, the injured party was not recognized as an investor Grigoriants, but an offshore registered in the British Virgin Islands, which does not have any relation to Armenia. According to the defense, there was no theft at all - the producer just left a certain percentage of the investment for services. According to lawyers, the investor presented claims to the business partner, as he lost money not only in the US, but also on another project - in Ukraine.

The Moscow City Court, considering all these versions as insignificant, decided to return Mr. Martirosyan to his homeland, citing the fact that he has not established obstacles to his extradition. Lawyers will try to find them in the Supreme Court.

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