Prosecutor's Office Demands Seizure of Property and 28 Million Drams from Former Deputy Mayor of Yerevan and His Wife

The examination of the lawsuit filed against former Deputy Mayor of Yerevan Vahe Nikoyan and his wife is ongoing at the Anti-Corruption Court. The Department for the Recovery of Illegally Acquired Property of the Prosecutor General’s Office demands the seizure of movable and immovable property, as well as funds from the couple.

The prosecutor's office is seeking to seize the entirety of the property located on Georgian Street in Yerevan, or alternatively, its average market value amounting to 13 million 100 thousand drams. The Prosecutor's Office explained to Hetq that in 2009, Vahe Nikoyan's wife, Armine Grigoryan, purchased this property from the Yerevan municipality for 1 million 315 thousand 394 drams, at a time when she had only 839 thousand 482 drams in legal income, with the remainder not accounted for by legally known income to the competent authorities.

According to the prosecutor's office, another property located at the respective address on Artashesyan Boulevard in the Shengavit administrative district is also subject to seizure, or if that is not possible, its average market value, estimated at 250 million drams, as well as rent payments for the aforementioned properties until the actual enforcement of the court ruling.

The basis for this claim is that in 2010, Armine Grigoryan purchased a building with an area of 14.5 square meters and a corresponding plot of land measuring 58.34 square meters at the specified address for 1 million 960 thousand 431 drams, for which she only had 672 thousand 492 drams in legal income. Consequently, this acquisition is considered illegal by 65.70%.

Additionally, construction works were carried out on this property, for which the funds spent were not accounted for by legally known income, leading to it being considered illegal at an extent of 95.83%.

The prosecutor's office demands the full seizure of a Mercedes-Benz S350, or if not possible, its average market value as part of the demand for property recovery. According to the prosecution, in 2014, Vahe Nikoyan purchased the Mercedes-Benz S350 for 11 million drams, while at the time of acquisition, he had only 3 million 310 thousand drams in legal income, and thus the acquisition is deemed 69.91% illegal.

In addition to the aforementioned property claims, the prosecutor’s office has also requested the seizure of 19 million 786 thousand drams from Vahe Nikoyan and Armine Grigoryan, as a remnant of illegal income derived from rental payments and transfers made in 2017. Furthermore, the office demands the confiscation of 8 million 258 thousand drams that remains unaccounted for with the individual's legal income over the period from 2013 to 2022, as having an illegal source and being transferred by an unknown beneficial owner.

The prosecutor’s office also reports that an examination of the banking secrecy information belonging to Vahe Nikoyan and Armine Grigoryan between 2013 and 2022 revealed that they made payments not substantiated by legal income.

It should be noted that the prosecutor's office selected the period from 2008 for the examination of Vahe Nikoyan and his wife Armine Grigoryan’s property. The defendants do not accept the claims stated in the prosecutor's lawsuit.

Recall that on December 6, 2022, the Anti-Corruption Committee issued a statement indicating that during his time in office, Vahe Nikoyan had misused his official position, which resulted in more than 3 billion drams being unlawfully paid to Sanitek LLC and associated companies for waste collection services that were not performed and sanitary cleaning services that were not provided over the years in the capital. He was arrested.