Stepanakert Mayor Arrested

The Investigative Committee of Armenia reported on May 25 that a public criminal prosecution has been initiated against four individuals, including the former community leader D.S., in connection with an alleged large-scale embezzlement involving fraudulent activities and document forgery.

On May 26, D.S. was arrested and charged under paragraphs 3 and 2 of Article 255 and Article 457 of the RA Criminal Code. The prosecuting body submitted a motion to the court to select detention as a preventive measure. The court granted the motion, and D.S. has been detained.

The other three individuals have also been charged accordingly, and a travel ban has been imposed as a preventive measure against them.

It should be noted that they are accused of D.S. committing fraud, distorting specific facts, using fictitious data that do not actually exist, and intentionally misrepresenting the truth. On different dates in February 2024, they allegedly created false decisions regarding the alienation of vehicles belonging to others, including four cars, and provided S.G. and G.P. with false powers of attorney to carry out the transactions.

In turn, S.B., by assisting those mentioned above, provided S.G. and G.P. with necessary certificates confirming that there were no obligations regarding property tax required for the alienation of the aforementioned four vehicles.

S.G. and G.P. submitted the falsified documents to the competent state authority, based on which alienation transactions were carried out through donations from others, and the rights were registered with the state. As a result, D.S., S.G., and G.P., with the assistance of S.B., embezzled vehicles worth a total of 19,100,000 AMD, including a "TOYOTA HILUX 2.7", "VAZ 21214", "UAZ 390945-552", and "VAZ 212140".

The investigation into the criminal proceedings is ongoing.