Former Mayor Charged with Illegally Allocating Land to Himself and His Brother

The Special Investigation Service of Armenia has uncovered significant evidence against the former mayor of Ayntap community in the Ararat region, who currently serves as the deputy mayor of Masis, alleging abuse of power and various other offenses.

According to the findings, during his tenure from 2010 to 2021, the individual in question included false information in official documents and failed to take necessary measures to halt unauthorized constructions or to impose administrative penalties on violators.

Specifically, it was revealed that in October 2014, with the intent of transferring a total area of 0.03676 hectares of land belonging to Ayntap community to his brother, he approved and provided his brother with an official document containing blatantly false information about the registration of 0.04 hectares of residential land in his brother's name, despite no such entry existing in the appropriate registries.

Following this, he submitted the aforementioned document to the local branch of the State Committee of the Cadastre of Armenia, disregarding the requirements set forth in the Land Code, which stipulate that communal lands must be alienated through a decision by the community council. This led to the registration of the land in his brother's name without any existing community council decision.

Furthermore, the community leader sought to allocate a 435.7 square meter piece of land located on the Yerevan-Artashat highway, which included public-use roads, to himself, along with unlawfully constructed structures such as a garage, an outbuilding, and a metal cabin.

He also attempted to sell several other pieces of land in the area, all while ignoring numerous legal provisions. In February and July 2020, motivated by personal interests, he signed official documents containing false information, recognized the unauthorized constructions as community property, and illegally transferred one plot of land to himself through direct sale while selling three other plots to different individuals.

Later, these decisions were submitted to the cadastre committee, which resulted in the registration of ownership rights over these properties.

Additionally, inspections by the State Urban Development, Technical and Fire Safety Inspection Body in April 2017 revealed that unauthorized constructions had been erected on agricultural lands without the required permits. An act was created documenting these violations, which was sent to the community leader for remedial action.

The former mayor ignored the relevant regulations, instead of taking the necessary actions to eliminate the consequences of the unauthorized constructions as stipulated by Armenian law.

Based on the accumulation of sufficient evidence, charges have been brought against the former mayor for multiple counts of abuse of office and forgery, under the Criminal Code of Armenia. A measure of restraint has been selected, prohibiting his absence and suspending him from office. The preliminary investigation is ongoing.