Armenia's Anti-Corruption Committee has reported a possible vote-buying scheme in the Lori region involving representatives of the Strong Armenia party, linked to Russian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan.

According to investigators, one of the party's candidates organized payments to local residents under the guise of housing expenses. The committee claims the money was transferred through intermediaries, mostly in cash, to make it difficult to trace the money flows.

The investigation also claims that those involved in the scheme considered using Russian bank cards for financial transactions. Law enforcement believes this was intended to complicate monitoring of the transfers. A criminal case has been opened.

This is not the first scandal surrounding Strong Armenia during the current campaign. Ten party supporters were previously detained in the Lori region for obstructing election campaigning. Six were arrested, and four more were placed under house arrest.

According to investigators, they blocked the road to Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikyan during his tour of the region. The protesters chanted "Samvel is the leader," referring to Karapetyan.

Parliamentary elections in Armenia are scheduled for June 7. Seventeen parties and two blocs are participating in the campaign. Armenian authorities and pro-government commentators consider Strong Armenia, former President Robert Kocharyan's Armenia bloc, and Gagik Tsarukyan's Prosperous Armenia Party to be among the most Moscow-oriented political forces.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan previously publicly called on voters not to support these parties, accusing them of attempting to return Armenia to its previous model of close political dependence on Russia.