Abuses in the Sale Process of Artashat Arts School Buildings and Land

The Anti-Corruption Public Oversight Union has sent a letter to the Prosecutor General of Armenia regarding alleged violations by the former and current leaders of Artashat city.

Specifically, it has been reported that during his tenure, the former mayor of Artashat sold an incomplete building of the Artashat Children's Arts School at a nominal auction for a price below the market value.

Based on this report, the Ararat regional prosecutor's office instructed the Artashat division of the police to prepare materials, leading to a decision to refuse the initiation of a criminal case on the grounds of lack of a crime. It was justified by the claim that there was insufficient evidence to confirm the crime and that all measures to obtain new evidence in this direction have been exhausted.

The legality of the decision to refuse the initiation of a criminal case was checked at the Ararat regional prosecutor's office. It was found that the measures taken to uncover the actual circumstances of the case were incomplete. By familiarizing themselves with the materials and reviewing the results of queries made to the State Committee of the Real Estate Cadastre and the Artashat municipality, circumstances were identified that require a complete, objective, and multifaceted investigation to reveal the actual circumstances of the case.

Specifically, it was discovered that according to a decision by the former mayor of Artashat, G. M., dated March 31, 2006, a land plot of 2331.0 square meters necessary for the service of the school's buildings was allocated to the "Artashat City Art School" for free, for an indefinite period of use.

On November 8, 2006, an auction for the incomplete building of the Artashat Children’s Arts School was held at the Artashat municipality. The market value of the building was assessed at 6,500,000 AMD, which pertained only to the buildings and did not include the market value of the land. Also participating in the auction was G. M.'s son, S. M., who currently holds the position of Deputy Mayor of Artashat, and he purchased the building for 7,155,000 AMD.

In the spring of 2020, this building was sold for 90,000,000 AMD. It was revealed that according to the certificate of state registration of rights to the real estate, the land plot of 0.2331 hectares allocated to the school for public development purposes was registered in the names of two individuals as "joint ownership."

This means that, in addition to the incomplete building of the "Children's Arts School," the land plot allocated by the mayor's decision dated March 31, 2006, which had not been auctioned, continues to belong to the arts school.

Considering that data indicating criminal acts containing the characteristics of misuse of office by officials of the Artashat municipality have been obtained, the decision to refuse the initiation of a criminal case has been revoked by the Ararat regional prosecutor's office. A criminal case has been initiated under part 2 of Article 308 of the RA Criminal Code.

The criminal case has been sent to the Ararat Regional Investigative Department of the RA Investigative Committee for preliminary investigation. An investigation is underway.

Notice: The person suspected or accused of the alleged crime is considered innocent until proven guilty by a court ruling that has entered into legal force, in accordance with the procedure established by the RA Criminal Procedure Code.