The ex-official of the Federal Property Management Agency, who escaped from court, was found dead. What is known about Avakian's case

Boris Avakian, a former official of the Federal Property Management Agency for the Leningrad Region, was found dead in the bathroom of the Armenian consulate shortly after he escaped from the St. Petersburg court, which was considering his tax evasion case. Law enforcement officers reported the suicide of a former official. What Avakian is charged with and how his case developed is in the Izvestia article.

Career in Russia

Boris Avakian was born in Armenia, but built his career in Russia, being a holder of dual citizenship. In St. Petersburg, he received an education in economics and law, defended his PhD and doctoral dissertations. Later, he worked for several years as the head of the investment department of Rusinkor Holding, then became one of the founders and CEO of the customs broker of the commercial port of St. Petersburg.

• From 2010 to 2014, Avakov served as Deputy Head of the Federal Property Management Agency for the Leningrad Region, and for the next two years he worked as Deputy Chief State Inspector for Land Use and Protection in St. Petersburg.

• He later moved to Armenia, where he engaged in political activities. In 2018, he publicly renounced his Russian citizenship, declaring his intention to continue his activities in Armenia. However, in 2021, he was relieved of all positions there, and in early February 2022, according to local media, the Armenian police put the businessman on the wanted list on suspicion of money laundering.

Criminal cases in Russia

• Boris Avakian was first detained in Moscow in July 2016 and placed under house arrest as part of a case of customs duty evasion (Part 4 of Article 194 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). However, at the end of August, the businessman ran away and escaped from the investigation. Later, he appealed to the TFR with a statement in which he complained about a possible "accusatory bias in the investigation of the case," and called the prosecution itself unfounded.

• In 2021, when Avakian was dismissed from all positions in Armenia, he returned to Russia. A couple of years earlier, St. Petersburg businessman Dmitry Zarubin, known for the fact that model Demi Moore took part in the opening ceremony of one of his Cartier boutiques, received nine years of strict regime for customs duty evasion. According to investigators, he imported expensive electronics under the guise of cheap building materials: crushed stone, concrete products, etc.

• In April 2024, Avakian became the main defendant in a similar case, along with Zarubin and 19 other people. According to investigators, the defendants organized the import of consumer goods and electronics into the territory of the Customs Union using forged documents that indicated cheap items. Thus, the state did not receive 4.2 billion rubles.

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• According to law enforcement officials, the defendants imported contraband from Finland through Vyborg customs, which was then sent to a warehouse owned by Zarubin, where the goods were replaced with building materials. Then, at the Baltic Customs, these building materials went through all the procedures and were returned back to the warehouse, where they were replaced again.

In the summer of 2025, Avakian signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense, in connection with which the criminal case was suspended, but he did not go to his office. As a result, he was detained again in September, and a petition was filed with the court to reopen the case.

• On September 23, during the trial on the election of a preventive measure, the businessman asked to "go out for a smoke." Once outside, he got into a car and drove away, taking refuge in the building of the Armenian Consulate in St. Petersburg. The next day, on September 24, it became known that he had been found dead. After going to the toilet at the consulate, Avakian did not open the door for a long time, and the staff called the special services. After opening the door, the ex-official was found unconscious, and the doctors who arrived pronounced him dead. According to preliminary data, the businessman committed suicide.

In September, Armenian journalists published a video in which Avakian asks the Armenian authorities for extradition. However, back in 2022, according to local media, he spoke about his intention to seek asylum in Russia, as the Armenian authorities allegedly persecuted him and tried to silence him by opening a criminal case on illegal border crossing and money laundering.