Wife of Alen Simonian's Brother Arrested

The Anti-Corruption Court has just issued a decision to arrest Ani Gevorgyan, the wife of the Speaker of the National Assembly, Alen Simonian. This was reported by a correspondent from NEWS.am from the court.

It should be noted that the proceedings are related to the case of arrests that began yesterday within the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Armenia.

Earlier, the Investigative Committee issued a statement regarding the criminal case, indicating that officials from the Ministry of Economy of Armenia, with the encouragement and assistance of the director and employees of a participating company in the procurement of the service for the establishment of the 'Public Investment Programs Bank,' ensured the victory of that company in the procurement process. This was done by violating the requirements of the Law on Procurement of the Republic of Armenia and the decision No. N 526-N of the Government of Armenia dated May 4, 2017, thereby creating conditions that effectively made the participation of another foundation impossible, wrongfully disqualifying it for not meeting the competition terms.

As a result, the company that presented a price offer almost three times more than the competitor, exceeding 392 million AMD, was declared the winner of the competition.

The actions mentioned infringed on the rights and legal interests of the foundation participating in the competition and caused substantial damage to the state. Yesterday, the National Security Service arrested six individuals.

In another criminal proceeding, an official from the Ministry of Economy, having the appropriate powers, was in close relations with V.D., a beneficiary of the state assistance program for the establishment of intensive orchards, and knowing the data of his acquaintances from other beneficiaries, failed to reject the financial compensation to them, despite documents presented that did not meet the requirements set by the Program for the agricultural services provided or goods purchased for orchard establishment during 2022-2023. On the contrary, he submitted reports stating that the works performed by the beneficiaries met the Program’s specified criteria.

After that, he requested an instruction from the corresponding department of the Ministry to make payments to the beneficiaries' accounts according to the Program. As a result, the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Armenia unlawfully reimbursed numerous beneficiaries through bank transfers in significant amounts, totaling 238,418,100 AMD, which were fraudulently embezzled by V.D. and other beneficiaries.

In this criminal proceeding, the official involved has been arrested as a result of operational-investigative measures jointly conducted by the personnel of the Investigation Committee of Armenia and the National Security Service of Armenia.