Case of Acquiring Medicines with Obviously Fake Documents in State Procurement Competition: Prosecutor's Office

The Ministry of Health of Armenia has transferred documents containing information about possible abuses in the process of acquiring a specific batch of medicines for the needs of the Ministry to the Office of the General Prosecutor of Armenia. This was reported by the Public Relations Department of the General Prosecutor's Office of Armenia.

In this regard, an investigation was conducted by the Public Interest Protection Department of the Office of the General Prosecutor, during which relevant information was also requested from the State Revenue Committee of Armenia to ensure the completeness of the examination.

The investigation revealed that, in the procurement procedure for acquiring medicines for the needs of the Ministry of Health, falsified documents that conferred rights were submitted to receive a satisfactory rating for the qualification criterion of “Professional Experience.”

Specifically, the participating company submitted documents to the commission proving compliance with the “Professional Experience” qualification criterion, according to which the company had properly conducted at least one contract for the supply of medicines and other medical materials during the previous year.

However, based on investigations of relevant information databases and information obtained from the State Revenue Committee of Armenia, it was found that there was no record of such supplies of medicines and other medical materials by this company during the specified period.

This indicates that the data obtained clearly suggests that, to create conditions for the company to receive a satisfactory rating in the “Professional Experience” qualification criterion and to be declared the winner of the competition, a group of individuals, acting with prior agreement, prepared and circulated obviously fake documents that were submitted to the evaluation commission of the procurement procedure.

Considering that the investigation revealed data containing signs of a manifest crime, a criminal case has been initiated under Part 2 of Article 325 of the Criminal Code of Armenia by the Public Interest Protection Department of the Office of the General Prosecutor, and the investigation has been entrusted to the Investigative Committee of Armenia.