Money Received for Business Trips but Employees Were at Work: Violations in the Judicial Department

A criminal case has been initiated regarding the apparent abuses that occurred in the Judicial Department, as reported by the Investigative Committee.

According to the findings from studies conducted in the Judicial Department under the directives of the head of the State Audit Office, it has been revealed that from 2016 to 2018, under the orders of the head of the Judicial Department, nine employees were allegedly sent on business trips to various regions.

By submitting documents certifying overnight stays provided by various economic entities to reimburse travel expenses, they received a total of 41,934,000 AMD.

“It has been determined that in several instances, the respective employees were present at their workplace during the days of the alleged business trips. Furthermore, they submitted documents for reimbursement of hotel service expenses from entities that, according to the State Revenue Committee, either did not provide such services or did not have the appropriate number of hotel rooms available,” the statement reads.

A criminal case has been opened under Article 178, Part 3, Clause 1 (fraud) of the Criminal Code, Article 325, Part 1 (forgery of documents, stamps, seals, forms, vehicle registration plates, their sale or use), Article 314, Part 1 (official forgery), and Article 308, Part 2 (abuse of official powers).

It is noteworthy that from 2014 to 2018, the head of the Armenian Judicial Department was the current head, Karen Poladyan.