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.
“Taron Margaryan will definitely be interrogated. The results of the investigation will decide when he will be questioned. Those are investigative activities. The head of the investigative group will decide upon when he will invite Margaryan for questioning,” Vanetsyan told reporters.
The National Security Service filed a criminal case based on announcements regarding crimes taking place within the “Yerevan” foundation. The case was filed based on the articles of abuse of official authority (Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia article 308, part 2) and fraud committed by using position of authority (article 178, part 2, point 1.1).
On July 13th of this year, the NSS received an announcement from Armenian citizens V.G. and A.K. about officials in the Yerevan city municipality who, in exchange for giving people permission to continue construction and purchase real estate, demanded that those people donate large sums of money to the “Yerevan” foundation outside of payments outlined by the law. It became clear when evidence was being gathered that a portion of the money received by hand in the aforementioned pretext was not registered by the foundation’s bank account number and was instead stolen.
Surrounding the framework of this criminal case, the head of the foundation, Ashot Ghazaryan, and the deputy head of the Davitashen municipality, Khachatur Karapetyan, were arrested.
The head of the board of trustees of the “Yerevan” foundation is former mayor Taron Margaryan. Other members of the board of trustees include deputy mayors, other officials in the municipality, and members of the city council.
Violations of article 308, part 2 of the criminal code are punishable by 2-6 year in prison, and violations of article 178, part 2, point 1.1 are punishable by fines in the amount of 500 to 1,000 minimal salaries or 2-5 year imprisonment.
