Customs Inspector Charged with Abuse of Power and Bribery

The Special Investigation Service of Armenia has reported that Garik Philiposyants, serving as a customs inspector at the Gogavan-Privalnoye customs checkpoint of the Eastern Customs Administration of the State Revenue Committee of Armenia, has been charged with receiving a bribe from Armenian citizen Vardan Hovhannisyan in exchange for failing to prevent the illegal importation of goods and neglecting to register allowed customs violations.

According to the charges, Vardan Hovhannisyan, aware that under current legislation a citizen can import up to 25 kg of luggage without customs clearance, organized and executed the importation of clothing and household items exceeding that amount from Turkey, which is not a member of the EAEU, in 2019. To avoid the necessary customs duties, Hovhannisyan gathered a group of individuals to divide the goods into amounts not exceeding 25 kg, formally declaring the items in their names at the customs checkpoint.

Customs inspector Garik Philiposyants, knowing about Hovhannisyan's importation method, allowed the importation of large quantities of goods under other people's names and without customs duties from September 18 to December 6, 2019, in exchange for graft from Hovhannisyan. Notably, during Philiposyants' shift on December 5-6, 2019, Hovhannisyan imported another batch of goods valued at 3,316,546 AMD, evading the customs duties totaling 1,042,511 AMD.

Garik Philiposyants has been charged under Article 308, Part 1 and Article 311, Part 2 of the Criminal Code of Armenia for abuse of power and receiving a bribe. Meanwhile, Vardan Hovhannisyan faces charges under Article 38-308 and Article 312, Part 1 for inciting the abuse of official powers and bribing the customs inspector. The preliminary investigation has concluded, and the case has been submitted to the supervising prosecutor for approval and further submission to the court.

Note: A suspect or accused is considered innocent until proven guilty according to the law and a court judgement that has entered into legal force.