Investigator Demanded $500 from Victim to Locate Offender, Says Investigative Committee

An investigator demanded $500 from a victim who had fallen victim to a fraud totaling $12,000 to locate the individual responsible for the crime. This information is reported by the Investigative Committee of Armenia.

Specifically, on March 13, a 27-year-old resident of the Kotayk province reported that since August 1, 2022, he has held the status of victim in one of the criminal proceedings being investigated by the Investigative Committee, during which he was defrauded out of $12,000.

According to the report, during the preliminary investigation of the criminal case, the investigator demanded $500 from him to transfer to the prosecutor in order to find the person who committed the apparent crime, promising to return the money within a week.

However, the investigator later refused to return the money, giving various unfounded excuses.

On March 10, 2023, the investigator, no longer in that position, transferred 204,000 AMD to the young man's account and asked him to come to the investigative unit to continue the investigation.

A criminal case has been initiated in the Ajapnyak and Davtashen investigative departments of the Investigative Committee of Yerevan regarding the solicitation and acceptance of a bribe. The materials of the initiated criminal case have been sent to the Prosecutor's Office of Armenia to resolve the issue of investigative jurisdiction.

The mentioned investigator was dismissed from his position at the Investigative Committee on October 12, 2022.