Charges Filed Against Taron Margaryan and Arman Sahakyan

The former head of the State Property Management Agency under the Government of the Republic of Armenia, Arman Sahakyan, the former mayor of Yerevan Taron Margaryan, and two heads of municipal departments have been charged with the abuse of official powers.

This was announced in a statement released by the investigative body. According to the Special Investigation Department of the Republic of Armenia's Investigative Committee, significant investigative and procedural actions have revealed numerous instances of misuse of official powers by Arman Sahakyan, Taron Margaryan, Andranik Kasaryan, and Arsen Amayan, the heads of the municipal architecture and urban development department and the immovable property management department, respectively.

According to the factual data obtained during the investigation, Taron Margaryan abused his official powers from September 2011 to October 2014, while serving as the First Deputy Mayor from July 6, 2009, to November 15, 2011, and as the Mayor of Yerevan from November 15, 2011, to July 9, 2018. In particular, the former mayor initiated a process to re-determine the boundaries of land occupied by certain schools in Yerevan, aiming to allocate and acquire land for himself and his close ones, using his official position against the interests of service.

Following his instructions, 13,172 square meters of state property occupied by a school building on Acharyan Street in Yerevan was unjustifiably reduced by 3,693.12 square meters, with 3,569.8 square meters sold at a significantly lower value than the market price through a facilitated auction to a close associate and the spouse of the director of the same school.

Subsequently, in 2012, another piece of land, measuring 580.63 square meters owned by the Yerevan community, was unjustifiably reduced, with 575 square meters sold at a significantly lower price in an auction to the father of the director of the same school entity, who is close to Taron Margaryan's family. In 2014, yet another 863.34 square meter area was similarly disposed of, again sold at a significantly lower price to the same individual's father, effectively depriving the schools of their ability to utilize their allocated land for educational purposes, causing significant harm to the rights and interests of the state.

Later on, the lands measuring 575 square meters and 863.34 square meters were unified into a single address for public development by a decision of the Mayor of Yerevan. Taron Margaryan has been charged under Article 308, part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia (abuse of official powers).

In the same criminal case, Arman Sahakyan, Andranik Kasaryan, and Arsen Amayan have also been charged under the same article for similar offenses. The pre-trial investigation is ongoing.