Vachagan Ghazaryan Charged

The Special Investigative Service of Armenia has charged Vachagan Ghazaryan based on sufficient evidence obtained during the pre-trial investigation of a criminal case. He is charged under part 2 of Article 308 of the Criminal Code of Armenia for actions he took while serving as the first deputy head of the National Security Service's State Protection Service from 2008 to 2018. The charge states that he misused his official position, leading to serious consequences.

According to the accusation, Ghazaryan, driven by personal interest to utilize state resources for the benefit of his family and to avoid additional personal expenses, misappropriated his official position. Specifically, he allegedly offered driver S. A. of the National Security Service's State Protection Service to work as the driver for his wife and household while receiving state compensation for it.

S. A. provided driving services to Ghazaryan's wife from 2015 to 2018, during which time he did not report for service or fulfill any official duties within the State Protection Service. Despite this, substantial payments totaling 9,340,677 AMD were made to S. A. as salary, bonuses, and material satisfaction from the budget allocated for the State Protection Service, which were fully reimbursed by Ghazaryan.

The pre-trial investigation of the criminal case continues.