• December 15, 2018

A criminal case filed against Elite Group

A criminal case filed against Elite Group

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.

According to our findings, the criminal case against the “Elite Group” company was initiated based on a citizen’s report. The citizen informed the law enforcers that the “Elite Group” company provided another citizen a false reference based on which the citizen, who had been granted a false reference, became the owner of one of the houses in Dzorapi Street.

The president of the “Elite Group” company, Armen Mkoyan, informed that he conducted a large-scale construction on Dzorapi Street many years ago, but he could recall the incident with difficulty. “As far as I know, it is about two brothers, one of whom died, and his father bought the house. We wrote what was real, gave it to him who had given the money,” he said.

What has changed in the field of the reconstruction of Yerevan after the revolution, and whether there are new conditions? While answering our questions, Armen Mkoyan said that control over the developers has become more intense. “There is a problem with the construction density coefficients. There were those “coefficients” before; now they guide them more closely now; that’s much. Now, these days, naturally, some illegal constructions were conducted that had their effect on the panorama of the city. The same had existed before, but these days it has become stricter,” he said.

It was difficult to find out who the second criminal case referred to. Materials concerning the developers have been examined by the Investigative Committee of the Kentron and Nork-Marash Administrative Districts of Yerevan.

In general, over the recent period of time, there have been numerous complaints filed against developers in “the bodies”, the National Security Service, the General Prosecutor’s Office, and the Prime Minister’s Office of Supervisory Services. The complaints are mainly from businessmen, who lost their property and ordinary citizens whose rights were violated as a result of the reconstruction of the centre. They have become more active, hoping that justice will be restored in new Armenia. By initiating lawsuits against large-scale developers, law enforcement agencies are seeking to make use of this to fill the state budget. The offenders mainly compensate the state for the caused damage and continue their activities. According to the data of the National Security Service, recently publicized by the “Mediamax” agency, only in the National Security Service’s Investigation Department, according to the preliminary findings, as a result of economic crimes, the damage to the state budget from May to October 2018 made in total amount 20.7 billion drams, of which 12.8 billion drams were recovered.