Community Property Transferred to Mayor’s Family Through a Fictitious Auction
The Anti-Corruption Committee (ACC) of the Republic of Armenia (RA) has completed the preliminary investigation into the former head of the Aghavnadzor community in Vayots Dzor Province. According to the investigative body, the community head, who served from 2005 to 2017, abused his official position with the assistance of an affiliated person, acting out of personal gain, which led to grave consequences. Furthermore, he is also accused of legalizing particularly large amounts of property obtained through criminal means.
The investigative body established that the former community head, driven by personal interest and with the assistance of an affiliated person, abused his official position, leading to grave consequences, and also carried out the legalization of particularly large amounts of criminally obtained property.
The preliminary investigation confirmed that the former community head organized an auction for a 5 ha plot of land owned by the community, with a market value of 17.4 million drams, which factually did not comply with the requirements of the Law “On Public Biddings.” An affiliated person was involved in the auction, from whom the ownership rights to the land were subsequently transferred to the community head’s wife through a fictitious sale and purchase transaction.
The Anti-Corruption Committee reports that the former community head has been charged with abuse of official position and legalization of criminally obtained property. Charges have also been filed against the person who assisted him in the process.