Defense Ministry Official Arrested for Accepting Bribe to Act in Favor of Soldier

The Republic of Armenia's Anti-Corruption Committee has established, through evidence gathered in a criminal investigation, that K. A., serving as the deputy commander of the technical division at the N military unit of the Ministry of Defense, accepted a bribe of 605,000 AMD from the father of a conscript soldier in exchange for acting in the soldier's favor.

Specifically, the investigation revealed that in March 2023, M. G., the father of a conscript soldier from the same unit, approached K. A. through intermediaries M. H. and A. G. to seek support for appointing his son to a driver position within the unit. Utilizing his official authority, K. A. demanded a bribe of $2,500 through one of the intermediaries and with the assistance of S. K. on March 7, 2023, and subsequently instructed the head of the military automotive service to include the soldier in the list of candidates for the driver position.

However, due to a lack of financial means, M. G. declined to pay the demanded bribe, after which K. A. lowered the request to $1,500. Accepting the offer to bribe the official, M. G. transferred to K. A. the equivalent of 100,000 Russian rubles and 90,000 AMD, totaling 605,000 AMD, through A. G.

K. A. has been charged under part 2, point 2 of Article 435 of the RA Criminal Code; S. K. under part 2, point 2 of Article 46-435; M. H. and A. G. under part 1 of Article 437; and M. G. under part 2, point 2 of Article 436. K. A. and S. K. have been chosen as the preventive measure to be detained.

The preliminary investigation against the aforementioned defendants has concluded. The case materials have been sent to the supervising prosecutor with a request for approval and submission to the court.