Levon Hayrapetian (Source: Public Radio of Armenia)

MOSCOW—Prominent Karabakh business Levon Hayrapetaian was sentenced to a four-year prison term Thursday by a district court in the Russian capital on charges of embezzlement. The court rejected an earlier motion for a seven-year prison term by the prosecution.

Hayrapetian, who is known for his philanthropy in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic last week opened the doors and rooms of his hotels in and around Stepanakert to provide free room and board for volunteers and soldiers families who flocked to Artsakh after the savage attacks launched by the Azerbaijani military beginning April 1.

In addition to completely refurbishing the historic Gandzasar Monastery in Artsakh, and contributing to Karabakh’s infrastructure-building efforts, in 2008, Harapetyan sponsored the mass wedding of 700 couples , http://asbarez.com/59264/700-couples-get-married-in-karabakh-mass-wedding/ to whom he provided annual stipends for having and raising children in Artsakh.

After his arrest in the Moscow airport in 2014, the couples were among the many to appeal for his immediate release claiming that the charges against him were politically motivated.

A former Russian senator, Igor Izmestyev, who is serving a life sentence in Moscow provided jailhouse confession, in which he discussed Hayrapetyan’s alleged crimes.

He pleaded not guilty in court and was later was sentenced to house arrest due to his failing health. He was released from house arrest in September pending a trial.