Criminal Case of Former Director of 'Kosh' Prison for Alleged Bribery, Theft, and Forgery Sent to Court

The criminal case regarding the alleged bribery, theft, and forgery by the former director of the 'Kosh' penitentiary has been sent to court. This information was provided by the Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia.

On July 25, 2019, a criminal case was initiated by the National Security Service of Armenia (NSS) regarding the failure of officials at the 'Kosh' penitentiary to perform their duties due to personal interests, receiving large sums of bribes, and offering large bribes to officials. Subsequently, the case was transferred to the Special Investigation Service, where sufficient evidence was gathered during the preliminary investigation to establish that the former director, L.B., had received substantial bribes in a mediated manner from a convict, H.K., who is an influential figure in the criminal world and among convicts, in exchange for creating favorable conditions for certain convicts and failing to register regime violations.

It was revealed that at H.K.’s initiative, on September 17, 2019, a meeting was arranged with L.B. at a car wash on Armenakyan Street in the Norq-Marash administrative district of Yerevan, where L.B. was handed a bribe of 700,000 Armenian drams. Shortly after this transaction, both were arrested by NSS agents.

Furthermore, the investigation confirmed that the former director had exploited his powers to appoint his neighbor to the position of a specialist in the security department of the penitentiary in March 2018, entrusting him with the operation of the penitentiary’s service vehicle. Instead of attending to his official duties, L.B. instructed him verbally to carry out personal errands and serve as his personal driver.

The individual reportedly did not attend to his official duties from March 28, 2018, to September 25, 2019, despite receiving a salary and bonuses for his position as a specialist in the security department. Throughout this entire period, false reports containing fabricated working hours records were created to reflect his presence at work, which were later confirmed by the penitentiary director. Based on these fraudulent documents, a total of 2.4 million Armenian drams was transferred to his account as salary and bonuses, constituting significant embezzlement of state funds.

For these acts, L.B. has been charged under Article 311, Part 3, Point 3, Article 314, Part 1, and Article 179, Part 2, Points 1 and 3 of the Armenian Criminal Code. He was initially remanded in custody, which was subsequently replaced with bail that has been appealed in the court of cassation. Additionally, as a measure of damage recovery, a lien was placed on his real estate and vehicle.

Charges have also been filed against two other individuals, specifically convict H.K. under Article 312, Part 2 of the Armenian Criminal Code, and A.H., a former convict from the same penitentiary, under Article 38-312, Part 2. The preliminary investigation has concluded. After the prosecutor leading the case affirms the indictment, the case has been sent to the Yerevan city first instance court for substantive examination.