Former Leader of Gndevaz Accused of Embezzlement: New Criminal Case Opened

The Investigative Committee of Armenia is conducting an investigation into the misconduct of the former head of the Gndevaz community, including alleged embezzlement and abuse of official powers.

The committee has reported that evidence has emerged indicating that the former community leader, acting as an official, allocated funds from the community budget for the renovation of the cultural center in the same community. He purchased necessary furniture, equipment, and accessories, yet from autumn 2016 to January 2019, a significant amount of money earned from paid events held in the cultural center was not paid to the community budget and was instead embezzled.

Previously, it was reported that the former head of Gndevaz, being aware that a private company was purchasing land plots, abused his official powers for personal gain. Using his position against the interests of the community service, he, as the head of the body organizing the auction for land privatization, sold 9.91 hectares of pasture land belonging to the community at an auction for 410,130 AMD on May 29, 2014, to his son. The son later sold this land to the aforementioned private company at a much higher price of 147,300,838 AMD on May 26, 2015, causing significant harm to the community.

During the pre-trial investigation, 70,000,000 AMD in losses to the community have been recovered. A new criminal case was initiated on August 19, 2019, under the first part of the second paragraph of Article 179 of the Criminal Code of Armenia concerning embezzlement, which has been combined with the ongoing investigation into the abuse of official powers by the former community leader.

The investigation is ongoing. Necessary investigative actions are being carried out to ensure a comprehensive, objective, and complete examination of all circumstances of the case, to identify all individuals involved in the misconduct, and to verify preliminary data regarding possible abuses in other transactions.