Corruption Cases Involving Road Police Official Uncovered; Charges Filed Against 15 Individuals

The Special Investigation Service of Armenia has uncovered cases of bribery in exchange for issuing driver's licenses, abuse of official powers, official forgery, as well as instances of citizens bribing and assisting in bribery during the investigation of a multi-episode criminal case.

Based on a sufficient combination of evidence collected in the criminal case, charges have been filed against 15 individuals, including the inspector of the Vanadzor Registration-Examination Division of the Road Police of Armenia, A. Grigoryan.

Specifically, it has been established that in February 2020, Road Police inspector A. Grigoryan made an agreement with a close acquaintance, S. Grigoryan, a resident of Gyumri, to assist him in providing driver's licenses to citizens in exchange for bribes. S. Grigoryan informed his acquaintances and others about the possibility of receiving a driver's license for a bribe, after which a group of residents from Shirak Province, both directly and through intermediaries, including the director of Ani Driving School, D. Darbinyan, approached S. Grigoryan between February and May 2020 to obtain driver's licenses for a bribe, from whom a total of 1,920,000 AMD was received, of which 1,020,000 AMD was transferred to Road Police inspector A. Grigoryan.

Having received the bribe money, A. Grigoryan abused his official powers by failing to properly verify the theoretical knowledge and practical driving skills of the citizens applying for driver's licenses, as stipulated by the Armenian government's regulations. He provided correct answers to test questions and entered falsified information in the records regarding the theoretical and practical examinations, falsely indicating that the respective citizens had passed the theoretical exam and answered the examination questions correctly.

As a result of A. Grigoryan's actions, individuals lacking the theoretical knowledge and practical skills to drive a vehicle received "B" and "B, C" category driver's licenses for a bribe.

For the commission of the aforementioned criminal acts, A. Grigoryan has been charged under Article 308, Part 1 /6 episodes/, Article 311, Part 2 /6 episodes/, and Article 314, Part 1 /6 episodes/ of the Criminal Code of Armenia. He has been placed under arrest as a preventive measure.

S. Grigoryan has been charged under Article 38-311, Part 2 /6 episodes/, Article 38-34-311, Part 2, Article 38-308, Part 1, Article 38-314, Part 1, and Article 178, Part 2, Point 5 of the Criminal Code of Armenia.

Charges have also been filed against 13 additional individuals for mediation in bribery, giving bribes, aiding in official forgery, as well as attempting to give and mediating for giving bribes under Articles 313, Part 1, 312, Part 2, 38-314, Part 1, 34-313, Part 1, and 34-312, Part 2 of the Criminal Code of Armenia.

The prosecuting body has deemed the evidence collected in the criminal case against S. Grigoryan and the others sufficient for drafting a bill of indictment and sending the case to court, notifying the accused and their defense attorneys, and providing them with access to the materials of the criminal case for review.