Charges have been brought against the former head of the State Property Management Department under the Government of the Republic of Armenia, the former mayor of Yerevan, and the former heads of the Department of Architecture and Urban Development of the Yerevan Municipality Staff and the Department of Real Estate Management of the Yerevan Municipality Staff, for abuse of official powers, the Investigative Committee has announced.
According to the report, “a number of circumstances of cases of abuse of official powers by Arman Sahakyan, head of the State Property Management Department under the Government of the Republic of Armenia, Taron Margaryan, mayor of Yerevan, Andranik Kasparyan, head of the Department of Architecture and Urban Development of the Yerevan Municipality Staff, and Arsen Amyan, head of the Department of Real Estate Management of the Yerevan Municipality Staff, have been established.”
According to factual data obtained by the investigation, “Taron Margaryan, holding the position of first deputy mayor of Yerevan from 6 July 2009 to 15 November 2011, and the position of mayor of Yerevan from 15 November 2011 to 9 July 2018, abused his powers.”
In particular, the former mayor, according to the Investigative Committee, with the aim of separating and acquiring land plots from the territories occupied by certain schools in the city of Yerevan for himself and his relatives, using his official position contrary to the interests of service, initiated a process of redefining the boundaries of the land plots occupied by the schools and instructed the relevant officials and employees of the municipality to issue new plans for the school land plots.
In 2011, from the 13,172 sq. m. land plot occupied by the buildings and structures of state ownership of the SNCO (State Non-Commercial Organization) located on Acharyan Street in Yerevan, a land plot of 3,693.12 sq. m. was unjustifiably reduced, of which a land plot of 3,569.8 sq. m. was alienated through an auction organized by the Yerevan Municipality at a price below market value, through an intermediary, to the latter’s godson and the spouse of the director of the same SNCO.
In 2012, from the land plot occupied by the CNCO (Community Non-Commercial Organization) located on Avanesov Street, owned by the Yerevan community, a land plot of 580.63 sq. m. was unjustifiably reduced, of which a land plot of 575 sq. m. was alienated through an auction organized by the municipality at a price significantly below market value to a close associate of Taron Margaryan’s family, the father of the director of the said CNCO, and in 2014, from the land plot occupied by the same CNCO, a land plot of 863.34 sq. m. was again unjustifiably reduced, which was again acquired through an auction organized by the municipality at a price significantly below market value by the close associate of Taron Margaryan’s family, the father of the CNCO director, thereby depriving the schools of the opportunity to use the land plots actually attached to them in their entirety for educational purposes, as well as causing significant damage to the rights and legitimate interests of the state.
Subsequently, the alienated land plots of 575 sq. m. and 863.34 sq. m., by decision of the mayor of Yerevan, as land plots for public construction, were merged into one address belonging to the father of the CNCO director.
The former mayor of Yerevan has been charged under Part 2 of Article 308 of the Criminal Code (abuse of official powers).
“In another case of the same nature revealed in the same criminal case, charges have also been brought against Arman Sahakyan, head of the State Property Management Department under the Government of the Republic of Armenia, Andranik Kasparyan, head of the Department of Architecture and Urban Development of the Yerevan Municipality Staff, and Arsen Amyan, head of the Department of Real Estate Management of the Yerevan Municipality Staff, under Part 2 of Article 308 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia (abuse of official powers),” the Investigative Committee also reported.
The preliminary investigation is ongoing.
By decision of the body conducting the proceedings, a written undertaking not to leave the country has been chosen as a preventive measure against Taron Margaryan, and bail for the others.
