Yerevan Municipality official charged with forgery of document

ArmInfo. The Anti-Corruption Committee of Armenia reports that an individual who served as head of the Architecture and Urban Development Department of the Yerevan  Municipality from 2010 to 2018 abused his official position, forged  documents, and laundered criminally obtained property worth an  especially large sum.

According to the information, this individual is accused of  laundering 140 million drams worth of criminally obtained property.  The case has been referred to court.

Specifically, on September 16, 2013, the official organized an  official auction for a 0.0250-hectare land plot in central Yerevan  and prepared a protocol containing false information. As a result, a  close friend of his, who was not actually present at the auction, was  declared the winner, and his ownership was registered based on the  signed purchase agreement.

Furthermore, a preliminary investigation revealed that the  aforementioned official organized the illegal expansion of the land  plot by failing to register the unauthorized construction on the  expropriated plot and by failing to organize the legalization  process, resulting in significant financial losses for the community.

Then, abusing his official position, the aforementioned official  organized and coordinated the issuance of a permit for the  construction of an apartment building on the land plot in violation  of several urban development regulations, including by submitting  false information in official documents. The apartment building,  along with the adjacent 0.0445-hectare land plot, was subsequently  transferred free of charge to family members of the aforementioned  official in 2018 under a gift agreement.

Thus, the municipal official legalized criminally acquired property  on an especially large scale, with a total value of 140,108,050  drams.

For the above-mentioned criminal acts, the former official of the  Yerevan municipality has been charged under Articles 190, Part 3,  Clauses 1 and 3 of the former Criminal Code of the Republic of  Armenia (corresponding to Articles 296, Part 3, Clauses 2 and 3 of  the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia adopted on May 5, 2021),  four counts of Article 308, Part 2 (corresponding to Article 441,  Part 2, Clause 2 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia  adopted on May 5, 2021) and two counts of Article 314, Part 1 (in  accordance with Article 445, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the  Republic of Armenia adopted on May 5, 2021). Charges have also been  brought against two persons who facilitated the commission of the  above-mentioned crimes, including the son of the former municipal  official. As a comprehensive preventive measure, the three defendants  were placed under house arrest, banned from leaving the Republic of  Armenia, and released on bail. The preliminary investigation of the  criminal case has been completed, and the case materials have been  sent to the Anti-Corruption Court of the Republic of Armenia along  with the indictment.