Charges Filed Against 28 Individuals for Illegal Acquisition of Driver's Licenses in Exchange for Bribes

The Anti-Corruption Committee of Armenia has established, based on sufficient evidence gathered during an extensive investigation, that around thirty individuals provided bribes to an official of the "Traffic Police" service of the RA Police in exchange for formal practical examinations, thereby unlawfully obtaining driver's licenses. This was reported by the Anti-Corruption Committee of Armenia.

It was revealed during the preliminary investigation that resident V. Sh. of the city of Spitak collected a total of 3,010,000 AMD from multiple individuals between August 2020 and May 2021, part of which, specifically 1,400,000 AMD, was given as a bribe to A. S., an inspector of the Registration-Examination Division of the Traffic Police in Yerevan, based on a prior agreement.

With V. Sh.'s assistance, the Traffic Police inspector accepted formal practical examinations from the aforementioned citizens and they obtained driver's licenses without proper verification of their practical driving skills. Simultaneously, A. S., abusing his official powers, created false reports regarding the proper administration of examinations for those who gave bribes, resulting in the unlawful delivery of driver's licenses to these individuals.

Charges have been filed against 28 individuals for bribery, intermediary facilitation of bribery, attempted bribery, and illegal acquisition of a driver's license through official documents in accordance with Articles 312 (part 1), 313 (part 1), 34-312 (part 1), and 326 of the RA Criminal Code. Non-custodial preventive measures have been applied to all defendants. All accused individuals have fully admitted their guilt in the charges and provided confessional testimonies. The preliminary investigation into their case has been completed.

The case has been sent to the supervising prosecutor with an indictment for approval and submission to court. Previously, a criminal case against A. S., who is accused of receiving bribes of particularly large amounts, abusing official powers, and committing official forgery, as well as V. Sh. who assisted him and several other individuals involved in this criminal case, had also concluded, and is now at the trial stage.