Former Officials and Judges Involved in Evicting Buzzand Residents Received Bribes

On July 26, an article titled "'My Step' Deputy Approached Police Following ECHR Decision" was published on one of the internet sites. The publication references a 2012 article that claimed, "American-Armenian Pavel Anderson said he bribed city hall and court representatives," and a decision by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on July 25, 2019, to compensate Yu. Vardanyan with 1.6 million euros. Armenian National Assembly Deputy Arusyak Julhakyan requested law enforcement agencies to treat the article as a public report of an alleged crime.

A request was sent from the Prosecutor General's Office to the Police's Special Investigative Department to conduct operational investigative measures regarding the publication. Based on the data obtained from these measures, preparatory materials were compiled, and the following was found.

In a video interview attached to the mentioned publication, Pavel Anderson stated that the right to develop the area adjacent to Buzand Street in Yerevan was granted by the Armenian government to his company, "VIZCON" LLC, and that the company has begun the process of evicting residents from addresses 13 to 21 on Buzand Street, recognized as a priority public interest project.

According to the publication, to acquire the development rights, Anderson personally and through a partner gave $550,000 and $200,000 in bribes to former officials of Yerevan Mayor's Office, while judges in various courts handling the eviction cases received bribes ranging from $300 to $5,000. Anderson also mentioned that in 2006, under the pressure of the former director of the Presidential Administration, he paid $100,000 to the "Armenia All-Armenian Fund" for a court ruling at the Armenian Court of Cassation to deprive Yuri Vardanyan of property rights over Buzand 13 and to recognize the public interest as a priority.

During the preparation of materials, necessary documents were obtained from the Judicial Department and the "Armenia All-Armenian Fund." A criminal case was initiated at the police on the features of committing crimes related to the abuse of official powers, the extortion and receipt of especially large bribes by officials, as well as the act of giving especially large bribes to officials. The case has been sent to the Investigative Committee for further examination.