Contract for Canal Cleaning Signed with Person Not Present in Armenia

The Investigation Department of the General Prosecutor's Office of Armenia has revealed that based on the findings of an audit conducted by the Audit Chamber of Armenia at the 'Jrar' LLC, a contract was signed on March 3, 2017, between a responsible official or other administrative agent of the state-owned 'Sevan-Hrazdan-Jrar' LLC (the 'Jrar' LLC is the legal successor of this company) and an individual. The agreement stipulated that the individual was to carry out canal cleaning and repair works by April 15, 2017.

However, according to information received from the Armenian police, the aforementioned individual left the Republic of Armenia via the Zvartnots border checkpoint on January 4, 2017, and returned on March 20, 2017, through the Bagratashen border crossing. This means that on March 3, 2017, the individual was not in Armenia and could not have signed the contract on that day, nor could they have performed the contracted works between March 3 and March 20, 2017. This indicates that the details of the contract signed on March 3, 2017, are fraudulent and do not correspond to reality.

As a result of the investigations, a criminal case has been initiated for the offense of document forgery or use of forged documents by a group of individuals acting in conspiracy, as stipulated in part 2 of Article 325 of the Criminal Code of Armenia. The preliminary investigation has been entrusted to the Investigative Committee of Armenia.

An official communication was submitted to the Chairman of the Water Committee of Armenia aimed at addressing the violations and omissions recorded by the Audit Chamber and taking measures to prevent similar instances in the future.

Notice: The individual suspected or accused of the alleged crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in accordance with the procedure established by the Criminal Procedure Code of Armenia, by a legally valid court decision.