VIDEO: Tarun Margaryan and Arman Saghakyan Indicted

The investigation into a criminal case involving former Yerevan Mayor Taron Margaryan, former head of the State Property Management Department Arman Sahakyan, and several officials from the Yerevan City Hall has concluded within the Special Investigative Committee of Armenia.

As a result of extensive investigative, judicial, and operational measures, the following has been established and substantiated:

Former Yerevan Mayor Taron Margaryan, with the intent to allocate and obtain pieces of land from the 13,172 square meter area occupied by the "Yerevan Special School No. 16" state non-commercial organization located at 40 Acharyan Street, and driven by group interests and personal gain, misused his official position as the first deputy mayor of Yerevan for these purposes.

He directed city hall officials to clarify the boundaries of the land occupied by the "Yerevan Special School No. 16" and, as a result, deliberately excluded a 3,693.12 square meter portion belonging to the school from the new land plot configuration.

City Hall officials, ignoring the fact that the reduction of the school’s occupied area stemmed from a decision made on December 2, 2002, purportedly included blatantly false information in the official conclusion, stating that as a result of surveying and rectifying the area, the actual area occupied by the school amounted to 9,478.88 square meters instead of the legal area under previous regulations.

Based on this conclusion, a new layout for the land was subsequently approved by Taron Margaryan on December 30, 2011, artificially reducing the previously claimed size of the property by 3,693.12 square meters.

Later, Taron Margaryan put part of the land—specifically the area left out of the school’s property—up for auction on July 13, 2012, with the result that the land was sold for 22,659,900 AMD. The purchaser then subdivided it into two equal parcels, selling one for 4 million AMD and the other for 3 million AMD to a relative of Taron Margaryan, while another parcel was sold to the husband of the school director.

This resulted in the school losing the opportunity to utilize the land attached to it for educational purposes, thus causing substantial damage to the state's rights and legal interests.

Moreover, Taron Margaryan, intending to allocate land belonging to the "Yerevan Preschool Educational Institution No. 64" located at 12 Avanesov Street to his relatives, again misused his official position to initiate boundary clarifications for the land occupied by the institution.

Acting on Margaryan's directives and in pursuit of personal interests, city hall officials reduced the institution's land area, citing a reassessment that inaccurately represented the occupied area as 5,872.27 square meters instead of the originally registered 6,452.9 square meters.

As a result, Margaryan presented another parcel of the land for auction on January 15, 2013, for which the family member of the preschool’s director purchased the land at a significantly undervalued price.

The same pattern followed with further land allocations and auctions benefiting Margaryan's circle, ultimately leading to substantial damages inflicted on the legal interests of the State and the affected educational institutions.

As a result of these actions, formal indictments have been brought against Taron Margaryan under Article 308, Part 2 of the Armenian Criminal Code, as well as against other officials involved, for their roles in this extensive misuse of power and manipulation of public resources.

The investigation has concluded, and the case materials have been presented to the parties for review.

An indictment was formally drafted on December 30, 2021, and is set to be submitted to the General Prosecutor’s Office for approval and subsequent referral to the Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan.