9 Million Drams Transferred in the Name of Former Minister's Driver: Police Revelation

Recently, information regarding embezzlement was received from the Prosecutor General's Office and the NSS at the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Investigation Department of the Police.

Based on this information, it was revealed that the head of the Department of Primary and Secondary Vocational Education of the Ministry of Education and Science, using his official position, had coerced the director of Kotayk Regional State College to appoint the driver of the former Minister of Education and Science as the college's driver from February 2011 to March 2016. This individual did not attend work but received over 2.5 million drams in salary.

It was also discovered that the former director of the Armenian-Greek State College of Tourism, Service, and Food Industry in Yerevan had appointed the former minister's driver as a worker from 2009 to 2016, again using his official position. The driver did not attend work here either but was still compensated. As a result, the college director embezzled around 4.5 million drams through the misuse of state property.

Moreover, it was established that the rector of the Armenian State University of Economics, using his official position, had appointed the same individual as a driver for the university's buildings, structures, and technical services department from 2016 to 2017. Once more, the driver was compensated without attending work.

During this period, the university transferred around 2 million drams to him and allocated about half a million drams worth of 1230 liters of fuel.

According to the collected factual data, it has been substantiated that from 2009 to 2017, a total of approximately 9 million drams and half a million drams worth of fuel were transferred in the name of the former minister's driver by these three public non-commercial organizations.

A criminal case has been initiated in accordance with the relevant articles of the RA Criminal Code.

An investigation is underway.