Frauds and Waste: Current and Former Community Leaders Charged

The preliminary investigation into the instances of misappropriation discovered in the Myasnikyan community council has been completed at the Armavir Regional Investigative Directorate of the Republic of Armenia's Investigative Committee. Charges have been brought against three individuals, including two current and former leaders of the community, as well as the secretary of the community administration.

As a result of various investigative and procedural actions conducted in the pre-trial proceedings, several circumstances have been clarified. The head of the Myasnikyan community, who has held this position since 2016, has been accused of committing fraud and waste while using his official position. According to data obtained during the investigation, the community leader registered various individuals, including his relatives, in different positions, and signed employment contracts with them. However, being previously aware of their absence from the country for months, failure to attend work, and negligence in fulfilling their duties, he, with the assistance of the secretary of the community administration, prepared and validated official documents that included evidently false information regarding their actual work performance. As a result, salaries were calculated and paid from the community budget for periods during which no work was performed.

The secretary of the community administration, who was also aware of the registration of these individuals as employees of the Myasnikyan community while they were absent from the country, compiled and handed over to the community leader official documents in the form of work time calculation sheets with evidently false information about their continuous actual work performance.

During the pre-trial investigation, information was also obtained regarding the former head of the community, who served from 2002 to 2016, concerning the negligence in the performance of official duties. According to the investigation, the former community leader entered into a real estate lease agreement with a resident of the same community, which handed over for a period of five years 17 hectares of fifth-category agricultural land for his temporary possession and use in exchange for appropriate payment. However, due to negligent and careless attitudes towards the service, he failed to perform his official duties, specifically, he did not initiate the notarization of the lease agreement and the state registration of rights with the territorial subdivision of the State Committee of Real Estate Cadastre under the Government of Armenia. As a result, restrictions on the registration of property rights related to the leased land plot were not imposed.

Consequently, significant harm was caused to the rights and legitimate interests of the resident due to negligence, as during the year 2018, based on the results of the auction sale of community property within the boundaries of the leased land, the given land plot was transferred to another resident of the Myasnikyan community with property rights.

Based on a combination of evidence obtained in the pre-trial proceedings, the current leader of the Myasnikyan community has been charged under the first part of Article 179 (3 counts) and Article 314 (3 counts) of the RA Criminal Code, while the former community leader has been charged under Article 315 of the same code, and the secretary of the community administration under the second part of Article 179 (3 counts) and the first part of Article 314 (3 counts). The completion of the pre-trial investigation has been announced, and the criminal case, with an accusatory conclusion, has been sent to court. During the pre-trial investigation, the community leader has fully compensated the damage caused to the community.