Former Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan's Criminal Case Sent to Court

The preliminary investigation conducted by the Anti-Corruption Committee of Armenia into a multi-episode criminal case has revealed that during his tenure as Minister of Territorial Administration, Chief of Staff of the President, and Prime Minister, H. A. abused his position and influence over state and local self-governance bodies to organize illegal auctions.

As a result, he acquired land plots totaling around 75,000 square meters in the Dilijan community of Tavush province, 120 hectares of agricultural land and pastures in the Narek community of Ararat province, and land plots totaling 48.4092 hectares in the Mkhchyan community at prices significantly lower than market value. Consequently, the aforementioned real estate, acquired at market prices without legal grounds, was removed from the property fund of the communities.

Subsequently, to conceal the criminal origin of the mentioned real estate valued at about 240 million AMD, H. A. secured their registration in the names of his relatives and later registered a significant portion of these properties through fictitious transactions in the name of his wife and a company he managed, effectively controlling and possessing them.

Additionally, the former high-ranking official was illegally involved in entrepreneurial activities, sponsoring commercial organizations engaged in the illegal extraction of sand, including the company “Metsn Hovnans” established in the name of a connected person. Specifically, between 2006 and 2016, H. A. participated in the management of the two aforementioned companies involved in sand extraction out of personal incentives to combine their operations and exploit the sand deposit of the “Avazahatik” LLC, earning a significant profit of approximately 230 million AMD from the exploitation of the sand quarry.

Moreover, to hide the criminal origin of the assets acquired through illegal entrepreneurial activities, H. A. mixed the aforementioned funds with his other income and then gave them a legal appearance through various civil transactions, including the acquisition of different properties and various banking transactions.

Furthermore, the investigation revealed that H. A. did not take effective measures to prevent the illegal extraction of sand carried out in violation of established procedures by a company connected to him. Particularly, during and after 2014-2016, the aforementioned connected person failed to operate the land according to the coordinates provided for mineral rights, conducting sand extraction directly from the riverbed of the Araks river, deepening its bottom by about two meters.

As a result of these actions, soil degradation occurred in an area of 5,950 m² around the sand washing facility operated by the company, leading to a change in the main channel of the Araks River over a distance of about 6 km, creating an island with an area of 307.82 hectares near the state border.

H. A. has been charged with abuse of official authority, exceeding official powers, illegal participation in entrepreneurial activities, and laundering particularly large amounts of property obtained through criminal means by using his official position. During the investigation, a ban was imposed on the properties of the defendant and individuals connected to him. The preliminary investigation has concluded, and the materials of the case have been handed over to the supervising prosecutor with a request to approve them and send them to court.