YEREVAN, October 19. /ARKA/. Armenia’s parliament passed today in the first reading a string of amendments to the Criminal Code criminalizing the creation and management of financial pyramids.

According to Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Nerses Yeritsyan, development of technology, including information technology, have resulted in the emergence of various illegal financial schemes.

He said financial pyramids also have an adverse impact on the country’s financial sector, as citizens' deposits are being accumulated outside the official banking system. He said they placed abroad, simultaneously discrediting the financial sector.

In his words, there were only two reports in recent years in Armenia on financial pyramids, ‘which are very difficult to stop, and they were mostly foreign schemes.’  He noted that there are no obstacles now to prevent the creation of financial pyramids because of the lack of criminal punishment for this type of crime, which is a real threat.

According to him, before drawing up the amendments, the Central Bank had studied the international experience in this area. In particular, the amendments propose that managers of financial pyramids be prosecuted from two to eight years in prison with a possible confiscation of property. Persons who report on such crimes will be exempted from criminal liability. -0-