Criminal Prosecution Launched Against Former MP for Failing to Declare $3 Million in Glendale and Los Angeles Properties

On February 24, 2023, the prosecutor launched a public criminal prosecution against former National Assembly member A.G. for failing to declare large amounts of property, illegal enrichment, and legalizing property obtained through criminal means.

The Prosecutor's Office's public relations department reports that the investigation by the Anti-Corruption Committee has revealed that A.G., as a declarant official (he was elected to the National Assembly on May 6, 2012, and April 2, 2017, serving until January 14, 2019), concealed his ownership of significant real estate and his shareholding in a limited liability company in the property and income declarations submitted to the Ethics Commission of High-Ranking Officials for the years 2017 and 2018, as well as on January 14, 2019. This led to the failure to declare significant properties.

Additionally, during the reporting period, A.G. unlawfully enriched himself (the increase in property significantly exceeded his legal income and was not reasonably substantiated by those incomes) and legalized particularly large amounts of property obtained through criminal means.

Specifically, in his 2017 declaration, A.G. did not include (concealed) three properties of significant value located in the United States, including an apartment in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, purchased on April 6, 2011, for $490,000; an apartment on Campbell Street in Glendale, bought on August 10, 2015, for $520,000; and an apartment on Witsit Avenue in the Valley Village neighborhood, acquired on June 2, 2016, along with data on acquiring 100% of shares in 'Arvivi' LLC on January 30, 2017. In declarations submitted to the Anti-Corruption Committee on February 7, 2019, A.G. once again did not include the aforementioned data required for declaration.

Furthermore, in his 2018 declaration submitted to the Anti-Corruption Committee, A.G. declared 50 million drams, $1.6 million, and €150,000. He then paid $45,750—equivalent to 22 million 212 thousand 540 drams—towards the purchase of a house located in Los Angeles on January 10, 2019, as a down payment for the property purchase.

In the same year, A.G. also spent 2 million 138 thousand 465 drams, which did not have a legal income basis, with an unknown source of origin. However, in the declaration submitted on January 14, 2019, after being relieved from his duties, he did not reduce the amounts declared for the previous year, again declaring 50 million drams, $1.6 million, and €150,000. Simultaneously, as of the day he ceased his official duties, in the declaration submitted on February 7, 2019, he reported a legal income of 114 thousand 660 drams received as compensation for work. Nonetheless, under these conditions, his money increased by 24 million 351 thousand drams.

In addition to the above, due to the criminal actions of authorized officials in the Yerevan municipal government, A.G., who held the position of Davtashen administrative district head from 2009 to 2012, acquired a communal property plot on Pirumyan Street in the Davtashen community on February 2, 2010, through direct sale for 9 million 48 thousand drams, despite its market value being 128 million 70 thousand drams, as it was subject to public auction.

On July 21, 2011, he acquired another communal property plot of 3500 square meters on Pirumyan Street in Davtashen for 15 million 834 thousand drams, whose market value was 205 million 464 thousand drams, which he later sold in 2018 for 176 million 346 thousand drams and 308 million 654 thousand drams, respectively.

Simultaneously, between 2012 and 2018, A.G. made illegal expenditures amounting to a total of 90 million 333 thousand 97 drams, whose source is unknown, while in his annual declaration for 2015, he declared a sum of $720,000 as cash available at the beginning of the year. During 2015-2017, the sum transferred to his accounts registered in the USA in the names of various individuals totaled $967,700, exceeding the $720,000 he declared as of January 1, 2015, by $247,700. Consequently, it remains uncertain how A.G. was able to make the transfer of $247,700.

In summary, in order to conceal the illegal origin, location, management, and transfer of substantial monetary funds and properties obtained as a result of the criminal actions of authorized officials in the Yerevan city hall, A.G. introduced them into legal circulation. Specifically, between 2012 and 2018, he acquired several vehicles and real estate, including a land plot on Agababyan Street in the Davtashen administrative district, purchased for 28 million drams in 2015; an apartment in Los Angeles bought for $490,000 on April 6, 2011; an apartment on Campbell Street in Glendale bought for $520,000 on August 10, 2015; and an apartment on Witsit Avenue in the Valley Village neighborhood acquired for $475,000 on June 2, 2016. After leaving office, on March 6, 2019, he purchased a house on Merriman Street in the Los Angeles area for $1,525,000.

The public criminal prosecution against A.G. has been initiated under Article 310.1 (Illegal Enrichment), Article 314.3 Part 2 (three episodes involving the concealment of declaration-required data of particularly large amounts), and Article 190 Part 3 Point 1 (Legalizing property obtained through criminal means (money laundering)) of the RA Criminal Code, enacted on April 18, 2003.

Note: A person accused of a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a legally valid court decision in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code.