An Armenian daily in Yerevan has revealed how a $ 10 million dollar loan for a proposed mining takeover operation in Sierra Leone was diverted, bringing to question the manner some investors acquire money to invest in the country.
The daily, Hraparak, says the American Bank loan was to be used for the operation of the mine in Sierra Leone. Serious problems arose in August of last year during the repayment of the loan.
The situation has sparked up a spat between the potential investor, Armenia’s Hayastan Shopping Center, and the American bank that supposedly issued it with the US$10 million loan.
The paper reported that the conflict which ensued between the shopping centre and the bank is still raging. The bank has now laid claim to the shopping center after it apparently discovered that the transaction was misplaced and the intent was deceptive.
The newspaper says it has found out why the investor, Hayrapetyan Brothers, had received the loan and how they could not pay the loan back despite their flourishing business.
Meanwhile, the attorneys for the Hayrapetyan Brothers, who own the shopping center, have appealed the recognition of the bank’s property rights to the shopping center, in return for delaying the US$ 10 million-loan obligations, Hraparak daily writes.
It became apparent that Hayrapetyan and a partner later decided to purchase a gold-diamond mine in Africa, for which they had taken the loan.
