YEREVAN, February 19. /ARKA/. Armenian law-enforcement authorities in the Arabkir administrative district in the capital Yerevan have opened today a criminal case into a threat of violence against the employees of a VTB Bank (Armenia) branch with the aim of a theft in especially large amounts.

The press service of the Investigative Committee said at approximately 15:35, two armed men entered the N4 branch of the bank and stole a large amount of money by threatening to use violence against the employees. The amount of the damage caused is being clarified. According to preliminary data, 8.5 million drams (about $17,600) were stolen in various currencies.

The criminal case has been opened on the basis of clause 1 of part 3 of Article 175 (robbery committed for the purpose of theft of property in especially large amounts) of the Criminal Code of Armenia.
All necessary investigative and other measures are being taken to clarify the identity of the alleged criminals and their detection, the investigators said.

They said also an inspection of the crime scene was carried out and the video recordings of the surveillance cameras were withdrawn. -0-