The preliminary investigation under the criminal proceedings examined by the Anti-Corruption Committee of the Republic of Armenia revealed that the person who held the position of the head of Abovyan community during 2015-2021, ignoring the legal acts prescribed by law, using his official position against the interests of the service, alienated a number of land plots not subject to alienation, located in the zone of restrictions provided for in Article 60 of the Land Code of the Republic of Armenia, through formal auctions and direct sales, to various physical and legal entities, which, according to the master plan of Abovyan urban community, were considered public green spaces for general use. As a result of the aforementioned illegal actions, significant damage was caused to Abovyan community, negligently causing grave consequences.

In addition, the above-mentioned community head and the community employee compiled and circulated false protocols regarding the auctions of land plots located at a number of addresses in the city of Abovyan, in which they included untrue information about the alleged auctions that were held and in which a number of persons participated, while in reality the auctions were not held in accordance with the established procedure, and in cases where the auctions were held, the applications filled out in the name of another participant in addition to the winner did not correspond to reality, the signatures of the applicants for participation in the auction were also forged, and the “participant” who was not recognized as the winner in the auction did not participate in the auction.

For the above-mentioned crimes, the former head of Abovyan community was charged under Article 308, Part 2 (21 episodes), Article 314, Part 1 (6 episodes) and Article 196, Part 1 (2 episodes) of the former Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia, and the employee of the community administration who assisted him was charged under Article 38-308, Part 2 (6 episodes), Article 314, Part 1 (6 episodes) and Article 38-196, Part 1 (episodes) of the same Code.

During the preliminary investigation, AMD 49,178,000 from the damage caused to the community was recovered.

The preliminary investigation under the criminal proceedings has been completed, and the materials of the proceedings have been sent to the Anti-Corruption Court of the Republic of Armenia with an indictment.

Note: A person accused of a crime is presumed innocent until his guilt is proven by a court verdict that has entered into legal force, in accordance with the procedure established by the RA Criminal Procedure Code.