Alen Simonyan Has Not Denied, but Essentially Confirmed the FIP.am Investigation: Ioannisyan

The head of the 'Informed Citizens' NGO, Daniel Ioannisyan, wrote on his Facebook page:

“Alen Simonyan has not denied but essentially confirmed the investigation by FIP.am.

1. Alen has confirmed that in his asset and income declaration upon assuming office, he did not declare the car he had at that time but rather a more expensive vehicle purchased during his term. This is already a criminal act designed to prevent people from knowing when Alen acquired the luxury vehicle and preventing inquiries about its source.

2. Alen claims he paid the price difference for the cars through a loan, but during this time, his loans have not increased.

3. The investigation states that the possible amount of Alen's illegal enrichment is about 7 million drams. Alen reduces this to around 10,000 dollars, possibly to fall below the criminal threshold for illegal enrichment (5 million drams). This is likely why Alen continues to keep the sales price of the old car secret.

Alen’s statement once again shows that he is unable to explain the source of the price difference between the Mitsubishi and Range Rover and justify the legality of that income (the investigation established that it is not from savings).

Alen should explain all of this not only to the public but also to the investigator. However, while speaking to the public, he should avoid manipulation by exploiting the public’s lack of legal knowledge regarding illegal enrichment,” he wrote.

It should be noted that yesterday, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Alen Simonyan addressed the article on the FIP.am website on his Facebook page, noting that he has always acted in a legal and transparent manner, qualifying the article as yet another absurd news.