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While no formal criminal charges have been filed against former Armenian Chief of Police Vladimir Gasparyan ever since Hetq broke the story last August that he somehow finagled the purchase of a home in Yerevan for $200,000 when its market value at the time ranged between $3-4 million, the courts in Armenia have placed a freeze on property and bank accounts owned by him and his family.

“Anti-Corruption Blog” has learned how Serzhi Vacho and his wife have extorted 40 million drams from the former chief accountant  of their Yans restaurant. The family of the terrorized woman had to sell their apartment, pawn  their  jewelry and got into debt  to  earn  the money that Vacho  forced to pay.

Hetq, in conjunction with its OCCRP partners, has investigated a multi-billion-dollar money laundering scheme involving Russian political and criminal circles who used the fake signatures of seasonal migrant workers from Armenia to divert money from the eyes of state tax authorities.

25 January, 2019

Request for Information

Armenia has re-opened a Panama Papers-related probe into a powerful political figure months after a new government came into office on the heels of a peaceful revolution.

Why did the victim refuse?

 The investigation of criminal case N63203516 was quashed.

Marina Poghosyan, President of “Veles” human rights organization, says.

The Investigative Committee of Armenia has initiated a criminal case on the fact that Elite Group avoided maliciously paying taxes. This was based on the report submitted by “Veles” human rights NGO. The case may become a start of demolition of some major corruption “balls”. “Elite Group” closed joint-stock company (CJSC) constructs and sells residential and public elite complexes. The case initiated in the Investigative Committee of Armenia discloses definitely how the sale process takes place.

The Investigative Department has initiated a criminal case on violations of the construction rules of the centre of Yerevan. The case refers to major developers, and its examination is strictly confidential. We could find out that two developers are mostly targeted by the Department. One of them is the “Elite Group” company that built numerous buildings in the centre of Yerevan, particularly on Aram Street, on Baghramyan Avenue, on Demirchyan Street, near the “Ani” Hotel, on Sayat-Nova Street, and elsewhere in Yerevan.

Over the years, the public has been informed of the illegalities of some organizations engaged in the construction of new buildings and the ex-regime representatives under the sponsorship and direct involvement of the former authorities’ regime, such as forced evictions and deprivation of property of the residents, multiple sales of the built apartments, and as a result appropriation of citizens’ funds.

The list includes those judges, investigators, prosecutors and other law enforcement officials who participated in cases of gross violations of fundamental human rights of people (we will refer to each case individually) and who must face justice.

The diplomatic passport is a document awarded to high-ranking officials and families of diplomats by the Foreign Ministry of Armenia. Spokesman of the Foreign Ministry of Armenia, Tigran Balayan informed recently that 254 diplomatic passports had been canceled.

Ex-mayor of Yerevan, Taron Margaryan, was interrogated on the case of “Yerevan” foundation. Arthur Vanetsyan, the director of the National Security Service, informed about this during the talk with journalists in the National Assembly. He said that Taron Margaryan has a status of a witness.

The European Court of Human Rights announced its decision based on the case surrounding Mushegh Saghatelyan, a protestor from the morning of March 1, 2008 on Freedom Square in Yerevan, and based on his imprisonment after showing resistance towards police officers.

Director of the Special Investigative Service Sasun Khachatryan has disclosed new details over the ongoing March 1 investigation.

The Former Deputy Chief of RA Police, Hunan Poghosyan, is well-known to the public from the events of 2016, when the patrol service regiment was captured. At that time the police remained without a permanent “mouthpiece,”

The “Veles” non-governmental organization received a letter from the Special Investigative Committee of Armenia (SIS), which rejected an appeal from the chairwoman of the organization, Marina Poghosyan, that she was a victim of the events of March 1st.

As a result of the inspections of the State Audit Service of RA 450 million drams will be returned to the State Budget of RA, out of which 210 million drams will be returned by “Lusashen” State Non-Commercial Organization (SNCO) for their 2016-2018 violations.

The head of the National Security Service, Arthur Vanetsyan, announced that the former mayor of Yerevan, Taron Margaryan, will definitely be questioned for his involvement in crimes associated with the “Yerevan” foundation.

The United Nations Convention against Corruption is one of several legally binding international anti-corruption agreements.