Urgent: 543 Individuals Registered in Public Institutions Without Attending Work, Causing 1.4 Billion Dram Damage

The Office of the Prosecutor General of Armenia has revealed that 543 individuals received salaries from public institutions without actually working. The damages caused by these criminal activities amount to approximately 1.4 billion dram.

This information has been reported by the public relations department of the Armenian Prosecutor's Office. It has been established that from January 1, 2018, to November 20, 2019, civil servants registered in state management and local self-government bodies, as well as in organizations associated with them, were recorded as having not attended work, leading to documented cases of theft or other corruption-related incidents. A total of 254 criminal cases have been initiated concerning these cases.

Of these, 129 cases—or about 51%—pertain to employees registered in educational institutions, primarily general educational establishments. Out of the examined criminal cases, the proceedings of 51 have been terminated on non-exonerating grounds, 35 of which were related to educational establishments. An indictment was sent to court for 29 cases involving 43 individuals, 11 of which related to educational institutions.

The examination indicates that systematic corruption was primarily expressed through appointments to technical or support roles within institutions, often involving individuals connected through personal or familial relationships with the organizational leaders. These individuals frequently attend work sporadically or fail to fulfill their assigned duties altogether. There are numerous cases where individuals are employed, only to soon after be granted parental leave without ever officially reporting for duty. Subsequently, false information has been entered by the heads of these bodies into work time records to indicate regular attendance and fulfillment of official responsibilities.

Specifically, among the 254 criminal cases initiated, 543 individuals were found to be registered but not attending work or fulfilling their job responsibilities. Of these, 222 individuals—or 41%—were registered employees of educational institutions.

The damages caused by the crimes in these cases have been preliminarily estimated to be approximately 1,390,329,391 dram, with 1,035,253,643 dram causing damage to the state and 355,075,748 dram to local communities. Of the damage caused to the state, 415,555,554 dram has been recovered, while 93,233,387 dram has been returned to local communities. Importantly, 356 million dram of the total damage was associated with employees of educational institutions, of which 101.4 million dram has been recovered.

The Prosecutor General of Armenia has instructed law enforcement agencies to intensify operational and investigative measures across the country. This includes verifying the alignment of staffing lists with actual employees, checking for possible falsifications in relevant documents, and identifying responsible individuals in cases of apparent criminal acts to ensure prosecutorial procedures are secured.