Head of Yerevan Cemetery Demands and Receives Bribe of 1,420,000 Drams, NSS Reports

The employees of the National Security Service (NSS) of Armenia's Yerevan City Administration have uncovered a bribery scheme involving the head of a cemetery operated under the municipality's "Special Services for the Population" non-profit organization. According to the NSS, the cemetery director, with the assistance of the cemetery guard, demanded and received a sizable bribe of 1,420,000 Armenian drams from relatives of the deceased for providing a maintained burial space and digging the grave, despite the corresponding service fees being already paid as per decisions made by the Mayor of Yerevan.

Moreover, the same director, authorized by virtue of their position to carry out various paid services for the maintenance of grave sites, organized these maintenance works on a private basis. As a result, a total of 780,000 Armenian drams received from the relatives of the deceased was not transferred to the community organization’s account, and no formal agreements or documentation regarding the construction work were prepared, causing significant harm to the legal rights and interests of Yerevan’s "Special Services for the Population" non-profit organization.

Necessary legal actions and operational measures are being undertaken to identify the full circle of individuals involved in the corruption scheme and to discover other similar cases perpetrated by officials to provide an appropriate legal assessment of their actions.

In connection with this case, the NSS investigative department has initiated a criminal case based on direct suspicions of committing offenses. Both the cemetery director and the guard have been arrested. Sufficient evidence obtained during the investigation has led to accusations being filed against these individuals under the corresponding articles of the Armenian Criminal Code, and a request has been submitted to the court to impose detention as a preventive measure, which has been granted by the court.

It is important to note that the law prescribes imprisonment for a period of seven to twelve years for receiving particularly large bribes.

Notice: An individual suspected of or charged with a crime is considered innocent until proven guilty in accordance with the procedures established by the Criminal Procedure Code of Armenia, through a legally effective court verdict.