What Violations Were Committed by the Leader of the 'Under One Roof' Program?

The main department of the police for combating organized crime has discovered, through operational intelligence measures, that Mher Derzyan, under the pretext of implementing the program titled 'Under One Roof' in 2018, allegedly committed fraud with intent to embezzle large sums of money. Presenting himself as a benefactor, he gained the trust of many socially vulnerable citizens and promised to build and provide eco-apartments at prices lower than the market rate, without interest, within a short time frame, and then deceived them, ultimately embezzling substantial property belonging to others.

According to the police, to execute his criminal intent, Derzyan spread his program across the internet and recruited a number of citizens. He promised to provide jobs for these individuals and free housing, requesting registration from citizens who expressed an interest in participating in the program from October 2018.

To this end, he rented offices on several streets in Yerevan, registering tens of thousands of citizens and charging them 50 drams for application processing, while later demanding an additional 1000 drams for forming the cooperative. By this method, after collecting money from citizens and using it at his discretion without proper justification, Mher Derzyan established the 'Under One Roof' consumer cooperative on November 6, 2018, and was elected its president.

Under the false pretext of providing priority housing, he urged members of the cooperative to make advance payments to the cooperative's bank account, promising to construct and deliver the first batch of apartments in December 2018. After failing to meet this deadline, he promised to hand them over in March 2019. Consequently, over 8,000,000 drams were transferred to the 'Under One Roof' consumer cooperative's account due to the advance payments made by citizens.

Using a portion of the funds deposited into the account, with the intent to build a residential neighborhood, he acquired agricultural land in Zovuni, yet did not change its intended purpose or commence construction. More than 1,400,000 drams that remained in the account were withdrawn in cash and embezzled.

Continuing his criminal intent, at Derzyan's demand, from December 2018 to March 2019, nine consumer cooperatives under the title 'Under One Roof' were created, which were actually managed by Mher Derzyan, although other individuals were elected as cooperative presidents.

In December 2018, Mher Derzyan resigned from the presidency of the 'Under One Roof' consumer cooperative to establish and head the 'National Union for Cultural and Household Support under One Roof' public organization, for which a separate bank account was opened. Promising citizens subsidized housing and membership in the cooperatives, Derzyan urged them to transfer membership fees of 2000 drams, as well as various advance payments, to the public organization's account.

As a result, over 500 citizens, trusting Mher Derzyan, transferred around 3,500,000 drams to the account, of which more than 1,550,000 drams were withdrawn in cash and embezzled.

A criminal case has been initiated regarding the apparent criminal act in the main department of the police for combating organized crime, and it has been forwarded to the investigative committee for further investigation.

Notice: A suspect or accused in an alleged crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in accordance with the procedure established by the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia, by a decision of a legally binding court.