Director of Lake Sevan National Park Accused of Embezzling Large Sums of Money

On June 29, 2023, a public criminal prosecution was initiated by the prosecutor against V.G., the deputy director in charge of science at the Lake Sevan National Park SNCO, who has held the director's position since May 10, 2017, for embezzlement, official forgery, fraud, and money laundering that occurred in 2016.

During the preliminary investigation, it was revealed that V.G. forged a delivery-acceptance protocol and act within the framework of a purchase contract entered into between the SNCO and the Scientific Research Institute of Environment and Natural Resources during 2016-2017. Additionally, using his official powers and with the assistance of a group of individuals, he embezzled 3,683,000 AMD from the SNCO through wasteful practices.

Furthermore, within the framework of a purchase contract concluded on July 11, 2017, between the SNCO and Karen Agababyan Ernesty LLC, V.G., with the assistance of others, embezzled another 3 million AMD.

Moreover, as part of an agreement signed between the SNCO and the Ministry of Environment on October 2, 2017, concerning financial support provided by the state in the form of grants, V.G. prepared forged reports and fraudulently embezzled 20,969,000 AMD, subsequently laundering these illicitly obtained funds in significant amounts.

On July 10, 2023, the supervising prosecutor submitted a motion to the Anti-Corruption Court to apply detention as a preventive measure against V.G. On July 11, the court partially granted the motion, applying alternative preventive measures, including administrative supervision and bail set at 10 million AMD.

Notice: The accused in the crime is considered innocent until proven guilty by a court decision that has entered into legal force in accordance with the procedures established by the criminal procedure code.