Revealed: Officials from the State Revenue Committee Demanded 8 Million AMD Bribe

The investigation conducted by the Anti-Corruption Committee of Armenia has established that senior tax inspectors V. A. and H. K. from the State Revenue Committee, operating in a group and in preliminary agreement, demanded a bribe of 8 million AMD for the benefit of an individual indicated by the bribe giver, in exchange for their patronage as well as for committing illegal inaction with the assistance of S. A. This was reported by the Anti-Corruption Committee.

Specifically, the pre-investigation revealed that on March 20, 2024, during a tax audit at the site of a kindergarten renovation conducted by one of the construction companies in the Ararat region of Armenia, V. A. and H. K. discovered at least 9 employees who were not registered under tax procedures. Additionally, various tax violations during transactions carried out by the aforementioned construction company and one of its related enterprises, which had not yet been clarified, were identified.

Following this, H. K. and V. A. arranged a meeting with the director and deputy director of the two construction companies through their common acquaintance, S. A. They demanded a substantial bribe of 8 million AMD to refrain from recording the fact of the unregistered employees during tax audits, as well as the outstanding tax violations. At the same time, they promised to create conditions for the companies to operate without interference.

The directors and deputy directors of the mentioned construction companies, along with K. H., who is the actual beneficiary of those companies, agreed to provide the required bribe amount to the officials. For the aforementioned criminal acts, charges were brought against V. A. and H. K. under the third part of Article 435 of the RA Criminal Code, against S. A. under the third part of Article 435, and against K. H. under the first and third parts of Article 436.

Pre-trial detention has been selected as a measure of restraint for three of the accused, while house arrest has been imposed on one. The pre-investigation phase has been completed, and the materials of the case have been sent to the court for substantial examination with an accusatory conclusion.