Nazik Amiryan Interrogated in Major Theft Case

Nazik Amiryan, the wife of former National Assembly deputy and General Manvel Grigoryan, has been interrogated as a witness at the 6th Department of the Police within the framework of a criminal case regarding the theft of property valued at 571 million 166,000 drams.

This was reported by Amiryan's lawyer, Gurgen Grigoryan, in response to a question from "Haykakan Zhamanak," noting that no other investigative actions involving his client have taken place since then.

Days ago, the police and the prosecutor's office issued a statement indicating that circumstances surrounding the alleged fraudulent alienation of property belonging to the "Hayapaki" company have been clarified.

According to the official statement, factual data have been obtained indicating that based on a decision by the Armenian government on February 7, 2001, 80% state-owned shares of the "Hayapaki" company worth 573,733,000 drams located in Byureghavan were sold to a woman living in Ejmiatsin for 145,000,000 drams under a direct sale agreement. The woman allegedly failed to fulfill her contractual obligations, leading to the company being declared bankrupt by a court ruling in December 2003. Reports indicate that this woman refers to Nazik Amiryan.

Following bankruptcy, the company’s property, valued at 717,166,000 drams, has been appraised substantially lower at 121,347,000 drams, and a clearly fraudulent evaluation report was generated as an official document. Subsequently, the entire property of the bankrupt company was acquired at auction for 121,347,000 drams by a company that had been previously founded by the woman in question under the name of one of her acquaintances. As a result, by paying only 266,347,000 drams for property valued at 717,166,000 drams, the woman, with the assistance of the liquidator, allegedly stole property worth 571,166,000 drams belonging to the state and shareholders.

According to Gurgen Grigoryan, Amiryan's lawyer, when the property was valued on the balance sheet at about 571 million, this included one property that had been imported as far back as 1992 during the Soviet era. "This property had not been operational for even one minute and still isn’t operational now. This also included the 141 million that Nazik Amiryan paid to buy the company from the state. And by writing 717 million, they have tried to create a public opinion that Nazik Amiryan seized such valuable property from the state," he stated.

Grigoryan further argued that property worth 717 million doesn’t exist within the context of this case. "A simple calculation can be made: to evaluate the value of the property and understand how much it was valued back in 2001 in Byureghavan during its severely dilapidated condition, to ascertain if the 141 million paid by Nazik Amiryan was worth it or not. It wasn’t even worth that much," he added.

He countered the police claims that Nazik Amiryan deliberately failed to fulfill her obligations and neglected to make investments. "They say that the balance sheet value was 571 million, but they say nothing about the 143 million that was paid for the property or the 71 million investment that was made only in 2001, if I'm not mistaken. They wrote that a non-existent thing was stolen, whereas investments had been made in its place," he asserted.

When asked why the company went bankrupt under these circumstances, Gurgen Grigoryan noted that there were previously accumulated labor debts. "The labor debts were so substantial that she used her own means to pay them, along with salaries, yet still wasn't able to maintain the company. These debts were from before she purchased it. Throughout the entire investment period, she appealed to the Prime Minister to request a loan to revive the factory, because after her acquisition, the factory was operational. By the way, it is still operating now, but nobody pays attention to that," he explained.

Grigoryan emphasized that if Nazik Amiryan had not bought the company in 2001, by 2010 it would have remained merely a semi-finished building worth nothing, unneeded by anyone. "Imagine, if someone intentionally wished to bankrupt something on which they spent 320 million, what would be the purpose of spending that money if they were planning to bankrupt it and sell it afterward? Moreover, for three years she fought against court claims from the tax inspection," he asserted.

He also stated that Nazik Amiryan was not informed about the subsequent sale of the company, "She couldn't have known, as it was not her responsibility. To prevent the enterprise from being fragmented, she asked for auction participation because otherwise, the fragmented business wouldn't be operational. This was a forced auction. The forced execution service conducted the auction publicly, and anyone who wanted to participate could."

Grigoryan ruled out the possibility that Nazik Amiryan could have prevented it with her influence, stating, "If they say that she could have, it's also ruled out, because if that were the case, this process wouldn’t have taken place at all. If someone wanted to sell it, they would easily sell it, why would they lead it to bankruptcy?" He added, "These types of criminal cases are not investigated this way, regardless of who is involved in the criminal case and whose name is touched upon. Otherwise, it would turn into that well-known movie where they would eventually reach our homes as well."

It should be noted that Nazik Amiryan is also a suspect in another case, where she is accused of illegally obtaining, transporting, and storing firearms, military ammunition, shells, explosive materials with the prior agreement of A. Grigoryan, the son of Manvel Grigoryan, and other unidentified individuals, as well as for theft.