Father of Deputy Arrested

The head of the Kasakh community has been charged under Article 308, Part 1, Article 308, Part 2 (2 episodes), Article 314, Part 1 (3 episodes), and Article 315.2 of the Criminal Code of Armenia. The request submitted by the prosecuting body to apply arrest as a preventive measure was initially rejected by the Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan. However, following the examination of the appeal filed by the prosecutor, arrest was chosen as a preventive measure.

This information has been reported by the Investigative Committee of Armenia.

According to the investigative and procedural actions carried out during the criminal case investigated by the Main Investigation Department of Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Committee of Armenia, as well as operational-search activities conducted in conjunction with the police, several instances of abuses committed by the head of the Kasakh community in the Kotayk region have been revealed.

According to the factual data obtained during the investigation, the head of the Kasakh community, who has held the position since 1996, is believed to have misused his official position for personal interests between October and November 2003. He allegedly provided an 11.6-hectare plot of land fraught with cemeteries to a resident of the same community for lease and later for sale. He created and circulated forged documents that contained false information, misrepresenting the land as a 5th category agricultural pasture while concealing the presence of cemeteries on the property.

After signing a lease agreement with the aforementioned resident, he handed over the land for lease. Understanding that the alienation of land burdened by cemeteries was prohibited, the head of the community later signed a sales contract for the same plot with the aforementioned resident, selling it for 783,000 AMD, causing significant harm to the legal interests of society and the state.

Moreover, learning of various citizens' intentions to purchase land in the same community, the community leader began to take possession of several plots with the aim of selling them at a higher price than the established starting price. Pre-arranged agreements were made with members of the auction committee, enabling him to sell the properties to preferred individuals under the guise of auction results and later transfer these plots to the citizens.

As a result, fraudulent documents were prepared regarding the auction sale of communal properties, containing false information regarding the participation of individuals in the auction, actions undertaken, and identifying his associates as winners under the pretense of offering the highest price.

Following this, under the direction of the community leader, additional fraudulent records relating to the auction sales were prepared, signed by him, the recorder, and his associates posing as buyers. Based on these supposed auction outcomes, the community leader then made decisions to enter into sales contracts with the individuals he had identified as auction winners, resulting in the sale of the aforementioned plots.

Consequently, serious harm amounting to a total of 43,064,000 AMD was inflicted upon the rights and legal interests of the community and the individuals who acquired the land. The investigation has also revealed that a resident of the community sold a building in the area, which had an illegal structure of 17 square meters facing it, without completing it in 2012.

The son of the new owner, who effectively controlled the property, verbally approached the head of the Kasakh community in 2015 to continue the construction of this illegal structure and received verbal consent from him, without taking the necessary measures in line with the Law on Local Self-Government of Armenia to prevent and suspend the ongoing construction of the illegal structure, resulting in the completion of the unlawful construction by the end of 2015.

In 2020, upon realizing that a criminal case was being examined regarding the apparent violation, the community leader attempted to cover up his prior illegal actions and only on June 2, 2020, made a decision regarding the administrative responsibility of a community resident.

Based on a sufficient combination of evidence gathered, charges have been brought against the head of the Kasakh community under Article 308, Part 1, Article 308, Part 2 (2 episodes), Article 314, Part 1 (3 episodes), and Article 315.2 of the Criminal Code of Armenia. The initial request for his arrest as a preventive measure was rejected by the Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan. However, following the examination of the appeal presented by the prosecutor, arrest was mandated as a preventive measure. The pre-trial investigation is ongoing.