Former Tax Service Official's Assets and Years-Old Taped Recording

Today, the Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia announced that a claim regarding the confiscation of illegally obtained assets was submitted to the First Instance Court of Yerevan on March 9, 2022, as reported by armlur.am.

The publication specifically states: “According to the Prosecutor's Office, through the claim, the Administration for Confiscation of Illegally Obtained Assets has requested the court to confiscate from former Tax and Customs State Revenue Committee (SRC) employee Vahram Gurughlian and three persons associated with him on behalf of the Republic of Armenia, specifically, 8 apartments located in Yerevan, 6 parking spaces on Northern Avenue, 4 public areas, a recreation area in Kotayk Province, 2 land parcels, as well as 2 vehicles; and, in case of impossibility, their average market value, which amounts to 1,601,422,519 Armenian Drams and other monetary and property assets.”

It is noteworthy that the newspaper “Zhoghovurd” had previously addressed the discussions surrounding former SRC President Gagik Khachatryan and former inspection department head Vahram Gurughlian in 2016. On March 30, 2016, anonymous audio material was circulated on behalf of SRC employees. In this audio, a man with a noticeably altered voice speaks about prevalent corruption phenomena in the customs service, stating: “Employees occupying mid and high positions, regardless of their professional and human qualities, who worked during Gagik Khachatryan’s time, are viewed by SRC and state leadership as corrupt individuals from whom it is necessary to quickly and quietly rid oneself.”

The anonymous audio can be said to have been “interrupted” by military actions, it is evident that it aimed not so much at fighting corruption but at effecting a change of power in tax and customs services. And the events became a significant theme of serious intra-system upheavals. It is worth mentioning that the logo placed on the audio material was the emblem of the tax state service, whereas such a service has long ceased to exist in Armenia. The State Revenue Committee is currently operating, and those portrayed as SRC employees recount matters concerning the customs service while not noticing this “detail.”

In any case, Vahram Gurughlian, the former head of the inspection department mentioned in the audio, was dismissed from office last December. According to verified information, he has a large business in Vienna. It is clear that the text’s authors are actually individuals outside the system who had a specific aim of publicizing particular names and resolving some issues through this.

The thing is that the SRC has been operating with detrimental practices for years, and there is virtually no new information within the published anonymous audio. Only the names have been changed. Today, it is being discussed that G. Khachatryan has given all customs oversight to his nephew, head of internal security Karen Khachatryan; previously, there were other actors in this role. However, it is still interesting who the names published as alleged participants in the corruption scandal are. According to the audio, they include: Robert Gayfajyan, head of inspections at the Trans Alliance customs terminal, Karen Grigoryan, head of inspections at the Bagratashen customs checkpoint, known by the nickname K’yazh, former inspection department head Vahram Gurughlian, who was dismissed in January this year for ‘illegal’ dealings, and others.

Thus, the former head of the inspection department Vahram Gurughlian, who has been the head of the Ministry of Finance’s pre-release control department, is reportedly also a large businessman. According to verified information, Vahram Gurughlian has a significant business in Vienna. Incidentally, we learned that he was dismissed from his position last December. Who is he, and how did he become an actor in the system? “Zhoghovurd’s” sources reminded that Vahram Barsgheshyan, who served as head of the tax state service in 2007-2008, appointed Vahram Gurughlian as head of the Internal Security Department (the 7th department) of the tax service. Vahram Barsgheshyan, originally from Artsakh, was notoriously dismissed from his position as he was undermined by Gurughlian himself.