Ex-defense official's case moves to Anti-Corruption Court

PanARMENIAN.Net - On January 23, the case of former Defense Ministry official G.A. (Gevorg Altunyan, editor’s note) and his alleged accomplices K.P., A.A., the owner of the “dasaran.am ” trademark S.A., and A.B., was transferred to the Anti-Corruption Court. The case concerns the embezzlement of 106.3 million drams from the state budget, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.

An investigation conducted by the Military Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee revealed that between 2019 and 2021, G.A., with the assistance of K.P., A.A., S.A., the director of an NGO and owner of the “dasaran.am ” trademark, and A.B., the director of a limited liability company, prepared and circulated falsified official documents, including false handover-acceptance records, invoices, and acts. These documents were related to procurement processes under contracts signed between the Defense Ministry and the LLC during those years.

As a result of these actions, AMD 106.3 million were embezzled from Armenia’s state budget during 2019–2021.

Public criminal charges have been filed against G.A. under Article 179, Part 3, Paragraph 1 (embezzlement on an especially large scale), Article 314, Part 1 (official forgery), and Article 38-314, Part 1 (incitement to official forgery) of the Criminal Code adopted on April 18, 2003. Charges against A.B. include Article 38-179, Part 3, Paragraph 1 (aiding in large-scale embezzlement) and Article 38-314, Part 1 (aiding in official forgery). Charges against S.A., K.P., and A.A. involve similar articles related to embezzlement and official forgery.

A property claim has been filed in court against the defendants to recover the damages caused to the state.

Note: A person accused of a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court judgment that has entered into legal force, as stipulated by the Criminal Procedure Code.