Criminal Case Involving 8 Individuals, Including Defense Officials, Sent to Court

The Criminal Anti-Corruption Committee of Armenia has confirmed that a resident of the Megrik community in the Syunik region illegally imported more than 74 million drams worth of various brands of non-taxed cigarettes without excise stamps from the Islamic Republic of Iran, with the assistance of the commander of military unit N of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia and another official from the same unit.

According to the Anti-Corruption Committee, the preliminary investigation revealed that the resident of Megrik sought the assistance of the aforementioned defense officials to execute his criminal intent. They, abusing their official powers and influence to the detriment of state and service interests, instructed the personnel at the combat post under their command not to create obstacles during the illegal transportation of cigarettes from Iran. Additionally, they provided a Kamaz truck, registered in the military unit, to facilitate smooth access to the area under the control of the combat post, allowing the unmarked cigarettes to be transported to the city of Agarak.

As a result, soldiers from the military unit illegally loaded the non-taxed cigarettes into the truck and moved to the Agarak community of Megrik, where they were found and arrested by employees of the National Security Service of Armenia on May 31, 2025.

The commander of the military unit and the other official from the same subdivision have been charged under part 2, clause 2 of Article 549 of the Armenia Criminal Code for abuse of official authority and facilitating non-payment of taxes in particularly large amounts. Charges were also filed against the resident of Megrik and five other officials from the Ministry of Defense.

Pre-trial detention has been applied to the commander of the military unit, while house arrest has been enforced for the other defense official. The investigation regarding the eight defendants has been completed, and the case materials have been sent to the Anti-Corruption Court of Armenia with an indictment conclusion.

Notice: A person accused of a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in accordance with the procedure established by the Criminal Procedure Code of Armenia by a legally enforceable court judgment.