RA Anticorruption Committee completes investigation into former  military official case 

ArmInfo. The preliminary investigation into the case of former Deputy Chief of the CSTO Joint Staff, Deputy General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Aikaz Baghramyan, accused of illegal participation in  entrepreneurial activity and money laundering on an especially large  scale, has been completed.

The Anti-Corruption Committee of the Republic of Armenia revealed  that from 1999 to 2020, A. B., who held the positions of Commander of  the 5th Army Corps of the Ministry of Defense, Deputy Chief of the  General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia and  Deputy Chief of the Joint Staff of the Collective Security Treaty  Organization, contrary to the prohibition established by law,  participated in the management of a company with the assistance of  his close friend, the director of a commercial organization, actually  owning a 25 percent share in it, registered in the name of his wife.

In particular, according to the Committee, the preliminary  investigation established that in the period from 2011 to 2018, the  above-mentioned commercial organization received a profit of more  than 1 billion drams, of which the 25 percent share actually owned by  A. B. amounted to 251 million drams. Moreover, in a number of cases,  a partner of the said organization, a company registered in the  Kingdom of Sweden, paid for the delivery in full to the personal  account of A.B.

After that, in order to conceal the criminal origin of particularly  large amounts of money received as a result of illegal participation  in entrepreneurial activity associated with the provision of benefits  to a commercial organization, sponsoring its activities, he legalized  them through a number of bank transfers and conversions, including by  acquiring property in the name of other persons and disposing of it  at his own discretion.

In addition, A. B., having invested the acquired real estate in the  authorized capital of a commercial organization, subsequently sold it  to a third company for 919 million 600 thousand drams, thus  legalizing especially large amounts of money obtained by criminal  means.

The preliminary investigation also established that A. B., being a  declarant, concealed information about property and income in his  declarations submitted to the Ethics Commission of High-ranking  Officials, and then to the Commission for the Prevention of  Corruption, which led to the failure to declare property and income  in especially large amounts. In particular, among other things, a  car worth about 102 million drams, as well as  amounts received as income in different years, were not declared.

A. B. was charged under Part 3, Clause 1, Article 190 of the former  Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia, Article 310 of the Criminal  Code of the Republic of Armenia and Part 2, Article 314.3 of the  Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia (5 episodes) for money  laundering on an especially large scale, illegal participation in  entrepreneurial activity, and concealment of data subject to  declaration.

A preventive measure in the form of bail in the amount of 40 million  drams and a ban on leaving the Republic of Armenia was chosen against  him. The preliminary investigation of the criminal case has been  completed.

The case materials, together with the indictment, have been sent to  the supervising prosecutor with a motion to approve them and send  them to court.

Baghmanyan had previously been periodically targeted by Armenian  media, which accused him of participating in corruption schemes and  doing business at the expense of the army.