Driver Attempts to Bribe Police Officer with 20,000 AMD: Cases of Offering Bribes to Police Officers Revealed

The Criminal Procedure conducted by the Anti-Corruption Committee of Armenia has revealed instances of drivers offering bribes to staff of the Police Patrol Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in exchange for overlooking administrative violations. This information has been reported by the Anti-Corruption Committee.

Specifically, the investigation has established that police officers R. A. and H. M. of the Patrol Service stationed in the Shengavit administrative district of Yerevan discovered that A. S.'s vehicle had not undergone technical inspection. In an attempt to avoid being cited for his violation, A. S. tried to place a bribe of 20,000 AMD into Officer H. M.'s pocket. At that moment, A. S. was arrested on suspicion of offering a bribe to an official and was taken to the police department, where sobriety checks revealed that he was driving under the influence of alcohol.

In another criminal case initiated by the Anti-Corruption Committee, it was further established that police officers N. S. and R. G. stopped the vehicle driven by A. B. on suspicion of driving under the influence. Upon confirming that A. B. was indeed intoxicated, they prepared a report on the administrative violation. During this process, A. B. offered Officer N. S. a bribe of 100 USD, attempted to conceal it by placing it in the officer’s pocket. He was subsequently arrested on suspicion of offering a bribe and taken to the police department.

In a separate investigation, police officers K. G. and M. S. while carrying out their duties in Yerevan's Kentron administrative district stopped the vehicle driven by J. Ch. to check the transparency of the side windows and the driver's sobriety. It was revealed that J. Ch. was driving under the influence and that there was a violation of the transparency requirements of the side windows. Following this, Officer K. G. wrote a report and revoked J. Ch.’s driving rights for one year. To avoid the administrative penalty, J. Ch. approached Officer K. G. and disguised as a thank you gesture, offered him a bribe of 10,000 AMD. He was also arrested on suspicion of offering a bribe at that moment.

Drivers A. S., A. B., and J. Ch. have been charged under Article 436, Section 2, Point 3 of the RA Criminal Code for offering bribes to police officers. The investigations concerning the three aforementioned criminal cases have been completed. The case materials, along with the accusatory conclusions, have been submitted to the supervising prosecutor for approval and forwarding to the court.