Corruption Evident in Shirak Province: Criminal Cases Initiated

As a result of coordinated efforts between the Republican and Shirak provincial law enforcement agencies, alongside proper prosecutorial oversight of the legality of operational and procedural activities, a fight against corruption is underway in the region, revealing new incidents of alleged corruption.

Specifically, operational data was obtained by the National Security Service of Armenia regarding the "Artik Territorial Psychopedagogical Support Center" state-funded organization, revealing that individuals had received diplomas in relevant specialties from a specific university in exchange for 700,000 AMD to obtain work permits.

In relation to this, materials have been prepared in the Kumayri division of the Shirak Regional Police. It has been established that four employees of the center (previously known as Artik's Special School No. 1), consisting of three psychologists and one department head, were allegedly provided with diplomas in the psychology specialty by the "N" production cooperative during 2018 and 2019, with signatures from the head of the state examination commission and the rector. However, based on data obtained during preparation, it appears these individuals did not participate in the educational process at the specified institution.

A criminal case has been initiated at the Shirak Regional Prosecutor's Office under parts 1 and 3 of Article 200 and part 1 of Article 214 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia.

Furthermore, as a result of joint measures taken by the Anticorruption and Economic Crimes Division of the Criminal Police of the Republic of Armenia, the Shirak Regional Division, and the Kumayri division of Gyumri, information was received indicating that at the “Gyumri Austrian Hospital for Mothers and Children,” under the guise of providing medical assistance as part of a 2020 state order, various children were fraudulently registered at the hospital, resulting in significant amounts of money being embezzled.

During the preparation of materials concerning this case, data were collected and cross-referenced between the beneficiaries who received treatment at the “Gyumri Austrian Hospital for Mothers and Children” in 2020 and records from the unified electronic health information system “ARMED.” More than six parents have filed reports or provided explanations stating that their children were admitted to the specified medical center for treatment on various days in 2020 with different complaints, yet were sent home the same day after being examined and prescribed medications by doctors.

However, according to the data from the “ARMED” system, these children were admitted for inpatient treatment on specific days and completed this treatment days later, for which the medical facility received corresponding funding as part of the state order. Thus, based on the data gathered, the officials of the “Gyumri Austrian Hospital for Mothers and Children” allegedly falsified official documents manifesting as medical records, which were then submitted for payment through the “ARMED” system, resulting in a fraudulent embezzlement of approximately 8 million AMD from the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia.

A criminal case has also been initiated on this matter at the Shirak Regional Prosecutor's Office under the characteristics of part 1 of Article 178 and part 1 of Article 314 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia.

It should be noted that in order to protect the state’s interests, discussions on filing a lawsuit have been initiated by the Shirak Prosecutor’s Office and an investigation was launched on March 3, 2021, at the “Gyumri Austrian Hospital for Mothers and Children” to verify the targeted, legal, and lawful expenditure of public funds, which is currently in progress.

In another case, based on information obtained from operational-investigative measures, it has been determined during the preparation of materials in the Ani division of the police that from 2012 to 2017, according to the minutes of various sessions of the community council of the village of Zithank from Shirak Province, funds ranging from 75,000 to 350,000 AMD were periodically allocated under the names of nine residents of the same village as assistance to socially disadvantaged families. However, these individuals either did not receive the funds at all or only partially, and many never applied for assistance as underprivileged families, while in some cases, even though they applied and received assistance once or twice, they were unaware of additional allocations under their names.

During the period from 2012 to 2017, a total of 1,790,000 AMD was recorded as distributed monetary assistance from the Zithank village administration, which, without being allocated to the mentioned individuals, was apparently embezzled through the abuse of official position. A criminal case has been initiated at the Shirak Regional Prosecutor's Office under the characteristics of points 1 and 3 of part 2 of Article 179 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia.

The preliminary investigation of these three criminal cases has been entrusted to the Shirak Provincial Investigative Department of the Republic of Armenia.