Armenia uncovers fuel trade tax scheme

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia's State Revenue Committee (SRC) says it has uncovered the activities of several business entities allegedly operating coordinated criminal schemes in the fuel trade.

According to the SRC's Investigation and Operational Intelligence Department, authorities received information indicating that aviation kerosene imported from Iran had been brought into Armenia without corresponding records of its sale appearing in the agency's information database.

Operational measures found that an individual identified as R. K. had established nine companies through nominee persons. Significant quantities of aviation fuel were imported from Iran under the names of those companies and were subsequently sold to various customers in Armenia without issuing the required accounting documents.

Investigators also found that three of the nine companies failed to submit the required sales reports, while the remaining six filed reports containing allegedly falsified information, enabling them to evade taxes on a particularly large scale.

Following an analysis of the evidence collected, the SRC concluded that the activities of the companies founded and managed by R. K. caused estimated losses to the state of about 870 million drams.

Based on the findings, reports of an apparent criminal offense were submitted to Armenia's Investigative Committee, which has opened criminal proceedings.

The preliminary investigation is ongoing. Investigators say additional procedural measures are being carried out to establish all the circumstances of the case and identify the full circle of individuals allegedly involved in the suspected criminal group.