What Have the Candidates for the Head of the Anti-Corruption Committee Declared?

Today, the interview phase for the candidates for the head of the newly formed Anti-Corruption Committee has commenced. The following individuals have submitted their candidacies for the position: the head of the Special Investigation Service, Sasun Khachatryan, and lawyers Garnik Torosyan and David Mkrtumyan, reports lurer.com.

A five-member commission will select the candidate or candidates for the head of the committee and present them to the Prime Minister. The committee will organize and conduct pre-trial criminal proceedings on alleged corruption crimes. After the formation of the committee, the Special Investigation Service, established in 2007, will cease to operate.

However, noteworthy are the declarations of the candidates for the head of the Anti-Corruption Committee. For instance, Sasun Khachatryan’s declaration mentions an apartment acquired in the Kanaker-Zeytun administrative district in 2018, and a non-residential space in the same neighborhood purchased in 2019. Interestingly, the head of the Special Investigation Service claims to own no personal vehicle, which is rather puzzling when one has managed to buy an apartment and a non-residential space.

In 2020, Khachatryan's liabilities amounted to 5,328,885.00 AMD. The balance in his bank accounts was 303,350.00 AMD, and he had 26,200,000.00 AMD in cash. His earnings amounted to 15,188,617.00 AMD.

The assistant to the head of the National Assembly’s staff, David Mkrtumyan, declared an apartment and a parking space bought in 2020. In 2019, he purchased a BMW vehicle. The balances in his bank accounts totaled 879,477.00 AMD, while the cash amount was 317,000.00 AMD. His earnings from work were reported as 128,030.00 AMD. Loans obtained included 991,500.00 AMD from Ardshininvestbank, 889,295.00 AMD from Converse Bank, and 995,101.00 AMD from ID Bank.