Galust Sahakyan's Son Accused of Causing Property Damage Through Fraud

As a result of a comprehensive investigation conducted by the Special Investigative Service of the Republic of Armenia, it has been established that officials of the Yerevan City Hall abused their official powers, leading to property damage caused by Tigran Sahakyan, the son of former Armenian MP Galust Sahakyan, through fraudulent means.

According to the factual data obtained during the investigation, in 2003, the Minister of State Property Management of Armenia used his official position to privatize the building of the "Ajapnyak" universal store located on Abelyan Street in Yerevan for a significantly undervalued price of only 22,500,000 AMD, in favor of Tigran Sahakyan, a previously known buyer. Subsequently, Tigran Sahakyan paid the specified amount and acquired ownership of the aforementioned property.

After acquiring the property, on June 26, 2003, Tigran Sahakyan submitted a request to the Yerevan City Hall, asking for an additional allocation of about 3600 square meters of land for the purposes of reconstructing the universal store, expanding the service area, organizing parking, improving, and landscaping. Based on this request, on September 11, 2003, a decision was made by the Yerevan Mayor to grant Tigran Sahakyan a land plot of 7470 square meters occupied by the universal store on Abelyan Street, along with an additional 3880 square meters, on a rental basis and with a right of first refusal. The lease agreements were signed on February 10, 2004.

According to the cadastres established by the RA Government's decision No. 1746-N dated December 24, 2003, the cadastral value of the land leased by Tigran Sahakyan amounted to a total of 51,347,400 AMD, while according to previous regulations, the cadastral value was 16,623,437 AMD. Tigran Sahakyan, intending to acquire the aforementioned areas at the prices in effect prior to the government’s mentioned decision, intentionally submitted forged evidence through his representative to the court, demanding that the Yerevan City Hall alienate the land plots to him through a direct sale, and set the sale price according to the cadastral values that existed before the adoption of the RA Government's decision of December 24, 2003.

As justification for the factual data mentioned in the petition, T. Sahakyan submitted forged documents to the court, presenting false contracts dated February 10, 2003, in lieu of the contracts dated February 10, 2004. The deputy head of the legal department of the Yerevan City Hall, obliged to protect the interests of the City Hall in court, failed to object to the court regarding the false factual data, instead stating, along with a first-class specialist from the same department, that the assessment and resolution of the issue should be left to the discretion of the court. As a result, based on the obviously false factual data, the court ruled in favor of Tigran Sahakyan.

In an effort to assist Arman Galust Sahakyan, who was working in the same department, the department head also failed to appeal the ruling of the court dated April 9, 2004, which was made based on obviously false factual data favorable to Tigran Sahakyan. Consequently, instead of paying a cadastral value of 51,347,400 AMD to the state, only 16,623,437 AMD was paid, causing the state a major property damage amounting to 34,723,963 AMD.

Based on the collected sufficient evidence, Tigran Sahakyan has been charged under Article 184, Part 2, Clause 1 (causing property damage through fraud or abuse of trust) and Article 349, Part 1 (forgery of evidence) of the RA Criminal Code. Charges have also been brought against the head and deputy head of the legal department of Yerevan City Hall under Article 308, Part 2 (abuse of office), and against the same department employee under Article 38-308, Part 2. Preventive measures have been chosen for them, prohibiting them from leaving. The pre-trial investigation has been completed, and the criminal case has been sent to court with an accusatory conclusion.