Over 22.65 Billion AMD Recovered from Damages Caused to the State in Criminal Cases under Investigation by NSS

From May 10, 2018, until June 14, 2019, the Investigative Department of the National Security Service (NSS) of Armenia initiated 327 criminal cases, received 21 cases from other bodies, and reopened 36 criminal cases. Additionally, 22 criminal cases from 2018 were transferred to 2019. During this reporting period, 72 criminal cases were initiated regarding crimes against economic activities (41 cases in 2018, 31 cases in 2019 until June), among which the preliminary investigation for 5 was completed (2 were dismissed—1 regarding 'Norfolk Consulting' LLC, which caused a damage of 3,037,952,000 AMD, and was fully recovered during the investigation; the case was dismissed due to lack of corpus delicti, while 3 were sent to court with accusatory conclusions). Three cases were merged with another case, 32 cases were sent according to investigative jurisdiction, and the preliminary investigation of 32 continues.

According to accounting audits regarding these cases, the preliminary data indicates that a total damage of 46,791,564,344 AMD was caused to the state budget, out of which 45,655,245,055 AMD relates to criminal cases investigated by the NSS, and 1,136,319,289 AMD for cases sent according to jurisdiction. So far, 22,652,050,485 AMD has been recovered from damages caused to the state in the criminal cases under investigation by the NSS.

Additionally, the total damage from other criminal cases that were dismissed and sent to court during the specified period amounted to 713,095,674 AMD, of which the damage to the state was 6,099,498 AMD, damage to legal entities was 80,332,506 AMD, and damage to individuals was 99,651,472 AMD. Out of these amounts, a total of 105,750,970 AMD was recovered during the preliminary investigation, including 6,099,498 AMD in favor of the state and 99,651,472 AMD for individuals.

In total, from May 10, 2018, to June 14, 2019, 406 criminal cases were examined concerning 137 individuals, out of which 50 criminal cases involving 91 individuals were sent to court, and 35 criminal cases involving 21 individuals were dismissed. Among the dismissed cases, 15 were due to lack of corpus delicti, 2 for effective remorse (2 individuals), 1 for recovery of damage to the state (1 individual, 'Norfolk'), 2 due to statute of limitations (2 individuals), 1 due to death (1 individual), 1 due to a change of circumstances (1 individual), and 1 under the common provisions (1 individual), while 12 cases were dismissed based on the act of amnesty from 2018 (13 individuals). Moreover, the proceedings were suspended in 19 criminal cases involving 25 individuals, of which 12 were under wanted status (search warrants were issued for 22 individuals), 6 for unknown identity, and 1 due to serious illness. A total of 123 criminal cases were forwarded to the prosecutor's office for jurisdiction purposes, 24 cases were merged with other ongoing criminal investigations in the NSS, the preliminary investigation continues for 155 cases, and 9 cases have been sent according to jurisdiction from 374 materials.