Customs Officers Demanded and Received Bribes from Entrepreneurs to Avoid Reporting Violations

The National Security Service of Armenia has revealed cases of numerous bribery incidents involving employees of the Investigative and Operational Intelligence Department of the State Revenue Committee (SRC) during the preliminary investigation of a criminal case initiated and examined by the Anti-Corruption Committee of Armenia. These employees allegedly accepted various amounts of bribes, totaling over 1.7 million AMD, from entrepreneurs engaged in business activities.

Evidence obtained in the criminal case has established that Gagik Hakobyan, a senior operative of the SRC's Investigative and Operational Intelligence Department, demanded and received bribes ranging from 100,000 to 300,000 AMD from numerous entrepreneurs between March and September 2021. This demand occurred during inspections aimed at identifying potential violations of tax legislation, where he refrained from documenting such violations, did not carry out necessary operational intelligence measures, and failed to process the violations as stipulated by law.

Moreover, during operational intelligence measures at another company, and in collusion with his direct supervisor Gagik Karapetyan, the head of the first department of the SRC, and chief operative Aram Aghajanyan, Hakobyan demanded and received a large bribe of 1,000,000 AMD from the founder of that company in October 2021 for not recording possible violations.

Gagik Hakobyan has been charged under Article 311, Part 1 (three episodes), Part 2, Part 3 (clause 3), and Part 3 (clauses 2 and 3) of the Criminal Code of Armenia. In related developments, an accusation for receiving a bribe has also been brought against a tax inspector, and Gagik Karapetyan and Aram Aghajanyan have been charged under Article 311, Part 3 (clauses 2 and 3) for their involvement in bribery.

Another individual has been charged under Article 313, Part 1 for mediating bribes, while five individuals face charges under various provisions of Article 312 for giving bribes to officials of the SRC.

The preliminary investigation into the criminal case against the SRC employees who received bribes, along with six persons who facilitated or mediated bribery, has been completed. The case has been forwarded to the supervising prosecutor for confirmation and referral to the court.

Note: The individual suspected or accused of a crime is presumed innocent until their guilt is proven in a manner prescribed by the Criminal Procedure Code of Armenia through a court ruling that has entered into legal force.