Cases of Bribery by Officials of the State Revenue Committee

The Anti-Corruption Committee of Armenia has initiated a criminal case based on materials received from the National Security Service. It has been established that an individual who held the position of deputy head of a department within the State Revenue Committee (SRC) engaged in corrupt practices. This person, while performing their official duties, developed a close relationship with a business providing brokerage services and reached a criminal agreement to facilitate customs clearance of imported goods at a lower value in exchange for bribes during 2024-2025. This involved underreporting taxes, providing inaccessible necessary information to the importing businesses, and facilitating patronage.

As a result, on November 23, 2024, the aforementioned official received a bribe from the individual providing brokerage services. The Anti-Corruption Committee has reported that it was also revealed during the investigation that a senior customs officer within the same department, with the knowledge and instruction of this official, also accepted bribes from the same business for customs clearance of imported goods at a lower value and for patronage services.

Charges have been filed against the two SRC officials under the third part of Article 435, part 2 of the Criminal Code of Armenia for accepting bribes. The broker business has also been charged under the third part of Article 436, part 2 of the Criminal Code for two episodes of bribery. The deputy head of the SRC department has been placed under detention as a preventive measure, while the business operator has been placed under house arrest and bail. The preliminary investigation of the criminal case has been completed, and the case materials have been sent to the Anti-Corruption Court of Armenia with an accusatory conclusion.