44 Million Dram Alleged Corruption Violations in Yeghgneadzor Community

The state interests protection department of the RA Prosecutor General's Office has launched an investigation into the documents and information presented by the RA State Oversight Service regarding the verification of works carried out under contracts signed by the Yeghgneadzor community municipality of Vayots Dzor Province of Armenia for construction and renovation programs.

The investigation revealed that the Yeghgneadzor municipality had signed contracts with various companies for the renovation of street lighting networks in different streets of the community, as well as for the renovation of the "Art School" SNCO, kitchens of kindergartens number 1 and 5, roofs, and a multi-apartment building roof during the years 2016-2017. However, inspections of the contracted works and monitoring measurements showed discrepancies, indicating that the actual works performed were less than documented by the execution acts accepted by the community leader and the handover-acceptance reports. Specifically, it was found that the information recorded in the execution acts and handover-acceptance statements of the mentioned contracts did not correspond to the actual volume of construction and renovation works amounting to about 3.3 million drams.

In addition, during a review conducted by the RA State Oversight Service, asphalt samples were taken from the upper layer of asphalt concrete during the execution of road paving works on various streets of Yeghgneadzor under contracts signed with two different companies in 2018-2019. The samples were tested according to five main parameters (thickness, average density, compaction factor, water saturation percentage, and percentage of voids). It was determined that the sampled materials did not meet the requirements set by the existing norms on 3 or 4 parameters, and according to the results of the investigation by the RA State Oversight Service, the asphalt could not be operated throughout its expected normative lifespan without additional corrective measures. Consequently, it was revealed that approximately 41 million drams had been spent ineffectively.

As a result of the investigations conducted by the RA State Oversight Service and the state interests protection department of the RA Prosecutor General's Office, there are substantial factual grounds indicating that officials of the Yeghgneadzor municipality falsified information in official documents, including execution acts and handover-acceptance reports from 2016 to 2019, created false documents, and misused their official position to misappropriate or waste about 3.3 million drams, as well as accepted works that did not comply with the main requirements of the regulations worth about 41 million drams, leading to serious consequences.

Accordingly, a criminal case has been initiated under Article 179 (Part 2, Clause 1, Part 3, Clause 1) of the RA Criminal Code for misappropriation or waste of particularly large amounts through the abuse of official position, under Article 308 (Part 2) for officials using their position contrary to the interests of the service or failing to perform their duties, causing serious consequences, and under Article 314 for official forgery. The criminal case has been forwarded to the Investigative Committee of the RA for further investigation.

Notice: The suspect or accused of the alleged crime is considered innocent until proven guilty in accordance with the procedures stipulated by the Criminal Procedure Code of the RA, based on a court verdict that has come into legal force.