MOSCOW, May 11 (RAPSI, Lyudmila Klenko) – Investigators have completed the work on a criminal case against businessman Aram Petrosyan charged with taking hostages in a branch of Citibank in Moscow, the press-service of Russia’s Investigative Committee informs on Thursday.

According to the statement, Petrosyan has pleaded guilty in part and gave testimony with respect to the charges brought against him. At the moment, investigators say, the businessman and his lawyer are studying the case materials.

Some time ago Petrosyan’s lawyer Stanislav Maltsev reported that after a medical examination the man was found suffering of a psychological disorder not requiring compulsory treatment, but affecting his ability to take independent decisions.

Earlier, a court in Moscow has extended Petrosyan’s detention until June 24.  

According to investigators, on the evening of August 24, 2016, Petrosyan entered a branch of Citibank at Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street in central Moscow, where he took four people hostage. He threatened to trigger explosion of an object resembling a bomb. After several hours, he released all hostages and surrendered. The bomb that he threatened to explode turned out to be a hoax.

The Investigative Committee stated that Petrosyan wanted to bring attention to his problem and did not want to kill anyone. Later he admitted his guilt in full and provided testimony against himself.

Before capture of hostages, a video has been released on the Internet, featuring a man resembling the one who took hostages. Video message was published under the name of Aram Petrosyan. In particular, he said that on August 24 he is going to commit "a violation of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation". He said that he intends to commit a crime because of bankruptcy, which, according to him, turned into epidemic in Russia.

He demanded Russian authorities to create a body that would deal with the issue of bankruptcy.