Details on the Scandalous Case at the Ministry of Economy

The Investigative Committee of Armenia has presented several details regarding a high-profile embezzlement case at the Ministry of Economy, which has also led to the arrest of former Deputy Minister Ani Isparyan.

In particular, the Committee detailed two incidents related to the theft of funds disbursed by the state as compensation within the framework of the state support program for intensive horticulture. In the first case, a resident of Vayots Dzor province, renting a 1.15-hectare plot of land, participated in the intensive gardening program.

“On the plot, he established an intensive walnut orchard and, expecting to receive a reimbursement of 50% from the state budget for the costs of orchard planting, submitted a false service contract with a supposed individual entrepreneur to the Ministry of Economy in May 2023, along with other supporting documents. According to this contract, the counterparty was obliged to carry out agricultural work on the specified 1.15 hectares, the total cost of which was estimated at 10,422,450 AMD,” the Committee's statement indicates.

The beneficiary also submitted a handover-acceptance act, claiming that relevant agricultural works had been carried out for the indicated amount. However, it was revealed that such services were not provided by the individual entrepreneur. The crime was not completed, as monitoring by Ministry employees and examination of documents showed that the reported expenses exceeded the prevailing market prices in Armenia or did not correspond to reality, while in some cases, they were inflated.

The individual has been charged with attempted fraud under Article 3 and document forgery.

The second case involves a resident of Ararat province, identified as S. Gh., who learned about the state support program for intensive horticulture from V. D. Specifically, he was informed about the possibility of receiving 50% reimbursement from the state for expenses incurred in establishing orchards on plots of 10 hectares. He agreed to conspire with V. D. to fraudulently embezzle a particularly large amount of money from the state.

Consequently, fake documents were created, which included both non-existent agricultural services and expenses that were significantly overstated for services actually rendered. Based on this, 58,500,000 AMD was transferred to S. Gh. as a beneficiary, which was embezzled with the prior agreement of the other group members, causing particularly significant property damage to the state.

S. Gh., V. D., and four other individuals face corresponding charges. S. Gh. is charged with fraud and document forgery.

The part of the case that was separated has been concluded, and the materials were sent to court with an accusatory conclusion. The investigation continues concerning the other five individuals under criminal prosecution (four physical persons and one official). Of the latter, three have been selected for pretrial detention, while two are prohibited from leaving the country.

Measures are being taken to identify any other individuals possibly involved in the criminal scheme.

It was previously reported that an official of the Ministry of Economy, being in close relations with one of the beneficiaries of the state support program for establishing intensive orchards and knowing the details of other beneficiaries, did not refuse reimbursement despite being aware that their documents did not meet the requirements set by the program. As a result, the Ministry of Economy reimbursed several beneficiaries unjustified through bank transfers in total of 238,418,100 AMD, which was fraudulently embezzled by the beneficiaries.