Father of Deputy Minister Accused of Embezzling $455,000 Acquitted After Daughter's Appointment

The father of Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Arpine Sargsyan, Ashot Sargsyan, was acquitted six months after his daughter was appointed as Deputy Minister of Justice. Arpine Sargsyan was appointed Deputy Minister of Justice on January 21, 2022, while her father was acquitted by a court decision on June 3 of the same year. This information was provided by the Prosecutor General's Office in response to a written inquiry from Irakanum.am.

The office indicated that the court's decision came into effect on December 2, 2022. However, the specifics of the criminal case against Ashot Sargsyan have been kept confidential by the prosecution. The agency, led by Anna Vardapetyan, considered this segment of our inquiry to be a state secret.

The publication notes: “It is noteworthy that there is no mention of Ashot Sargsyan in the Datalex information system. Meanwhile, according to press reports, Ashot Sargsyan, the father of the newly appointed Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs and former Deputy Minister of Justice, has been implicated in a high-profile corruption case during the previous government. This case involves Ashot Sargsyan, a former supplier to the Ministry of Defense, who is also known as Ashot of the Vedic Tozdo.”

As early as 2014, the media reported that Ashot Sargsyan had provided the Ministry of Defense with videoconferencing equipment. It later emerged that the equipment had been sold to the Ministry at a significantly inflated price. His company, “AS-Tech Security Systems,” has been operational since 2005, primarily offering services to state and public institutions by equipping their buildings with the necessary technologies. This company has notably supplied equipment to the National Assembly, the Government of Armenia, and the buildings of the courts.

According to available information at the time, Ashot Sargsyan was accused of embezzling approximately $455,000 intended for the maintenance of videoconferencing rooms. Reports suggest that Sargsyan had powerful support within the Ministry of Defense, specifically from Komitas Muradyan, the head of the Ministry's Communications Department, who is also a fellow countryman of Ashot Sargsyan.

While Ashot Sargsyan was in custody, only he was detained. Komitas Muradyan had previously been the commander of the 9th Defense Zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, where the adversary had notable successes during the Four-Day War. Following this, according to the same reports, Muradyan and several individuals released during the Four-Day War presented a range of weapons to former President Serzh Sargsyan at the “Mother Armenia” military museum, proudly highlighting their capabilities compared to those of the adversary, though in reality, the weapons displayed were not even present in the Ministry of Defense's arsenal. For this reason, Serzh Sargsyan penalized supplier Sargsyan.

However, the government of Nikol Pashinyan appointed the daughter of a businessman previously detained for large-scale embezzlement to a high position, and shortly thereafter, Ashot Sargsyan was acquitted. It is noteworthy that Arpine Sargsyan is not the only one who worked in the Ministry during the tenure of former Minister of Justice Karen Andreasyan. Her husband, Arshak Vardapetyan, was also appointed as an advisor to the then-Minister of Justice five months after his wife's appointment.

After Karen Andreasyan moved to the Supreme Judicial Council, Arshak Vardapetyan began working there, while Arpine Sargsyan, who was among those “affected by the former regime,” received a position in the newly established Ministry of Internal Affairs.