The law-enforcement agency did not officially confirm the information. It was also immediately not clear what Gasparian is accused of. She could not be reached for comment.
Gasparian, who is affiliated with the ruling Civil Contract party, gave personal reasons for her resignation when she announced it on May 15. The 37-year-old had run Vagharshapat since 2018.
The historic town 22 kilometers west of Yerevan, also known as Echmiadzin, was rocked in March this year by the fatal shooting of a 36-year-old man at a local gas station owned by Gasparian’s father-in-law. Law-enforcement authorities have since been hunting for another local resident who they believe committed the murder.
According to news reports, the fugitive suspect is a friend of Gasparian’s husband, Aramayis Mirzoyan. Investigators searched Gasparian’s and Mirzoyan’s home in the wake of the shooting.
Another law-enforcement body, the Investigative Committee, said on Monday that it has charged two employees of the gas station with an attempted cover-up of the crime. It did not say whether it believes they acted on the ex-mayor’s, her husband’s or father-in-law’s orders.
In recent years, Gasparian and Mirzoyan have faced media accusations of using their position to enrich themselves through dubious redevelopment projects and other business deals. Last year, a criminal investigation was launched into one of those projects officially launched by the parents of the ex-mayor’s husband. Nobody was indicted in that probe as of May 2025.
Also, RFE/R’s Armenian Service discovered in February that Gasparian granted a fuel supply contract worth 13.6 million drams ($34,000) to her father-in-law. Armenia’s Commission on the Prevention of Corruption subsequently fined her 300,000 drams for the conflict of interest.
The local community comprises not only Vagharshapat but also several nearby villages. Following Gasparian’s resignation, the Armenian government decided to merge it with over a dozen other villages ahead of a local election expected this fall.
Commentators have suggested that the decision is aimed at helping Civil Contract retain control of the local government. Some of them say that the party led by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian is now too unpopular in Vagharshapat to win the upcoming election without the backing of rural voters.