Arman Sahakyan and Armen Petrosyan have been sentenced to six years in prison by the Dorogomilovsky Court of Moscow after being convicted of stealing high-value diamonds worth around 133 million rubles from Russian diamond mining enterprise ALROSA.
According to the Russian legal news agency RAPSI, the two men were convicted over their leading roles in an elaborate, large-scale criminal operation that illegally extracted precious gemstones weighing a total of more than 70,000 carats from the state-controlled producer.
Judicial findings established that Sahakyan and Petrosyan maintained a covert scheme to swap premium diamonds out of the company. The pair supplied a technical expert working inside the mining enterprise with lower-grade technical diamonds and near-gem quality raw diamond material.
The enterprise expert then used these substitute raw materials to replace ALROSA's top-quality gemstones, allowing the group to mask the ongoing disappearances during internal inventory checks.
Once extracted, the stolen gems were smuggled out of Russia into Armenia. Technical diamonds are industrial-grade stones typically used for cutting and drilling equipment, whereas gem-quality diamonds are refined for the commercial luxury jewelry market.
Arrests and discovery of luxury goods
Law enforcement officers arrested Petrosyan and Sahakyan while the pair were attempting to carry out a further diamond theft valued at more than 1.7 million rubles.
Following their detention, police conducted comprehensive searches at the residences of both suspects. Investigators seized official documents detailing the scheme, along with approximately 200,000 carats of technical diamonds and high-end jewelry pieces produced by well-known luxury brands.
The court proceedings also highlighted the involvement of two alleged accomplices who were arrested by law enforcement officers in the summer of 2025. Those accomplices were identified as former ALROSA employee Valentina Matyushenkova and her son Alexey.
Background on ALROSA and judicial system
ALROSA is Russia's state-backed diamond mining monopoly and stands as one of the largest diamond producers in the world by carat volume. Headquartered in Russia, the corporation accounts for the vast majority of domestic rough diamond production and holds massive global market share.
The Dorogomilovsky District Court is a prominent trial court situated in western Moscow that adjudicates major criminal matters in the Russian capital. RAPSI, the Russian Legal Information Agency, is a specialized legal news service established to cover court rulings and judicial developments across the Russian Federation.
Armenia, a former Soviet republic located in the South Caucasus, maintains extensive historical, political, and commercial trade links with Russia, including shared customs agreements and active transport corridors.
