Blogger Lusik Karapetyan receives suspended sentence for investment fraud

A Moscow court gave blogger Lusik Karapetyan a suspended three-year prison sentence with a three-year probation period, the city prosecutor’s office said. The judgment has not yet taken legal effect.

Prosecutors said the court established that she had stolen money from four people. Karapetyan attracted clients through social media posts depicting apparent financial success and advertisements promising high returns on investments.

The Prosecutor General’s Office had previously said investigators alleged that Karapetyan and accomplices stole 85 thousand rubles from citizens between December 2020 and April 2021.

She was extradited from the United Arab Emirates to Russia in July. Karapetyan fully admitted guilt and reimbursed all victims, prosecutors said.