Vahan Poghosyan, the former deputy minister of health who was released in 2019 on a 5 million dram bail, has been charged with new accusations and detention has been chosen as a preventive measure against him.
The press service of the Prosecutor General’s Office reports that a criminal case has been opened regarding a number of abuses committed at the “National Center for Tuberculosis Control” SNCO, and charges have been brought against former Deputy Minister of the RA Ministry of Health Vahan Poghosyan for committing criminal acts.
By the decision of the Kotayk Province Court of General Jurisdiction of First Instance of 9 March 2019, bail in the amount of 5,000,000 AMD was applied to him as an alternative preventive measure to detention.
Based on factual data obtained during the subsequent preliminary investigation of the criminal case, on 11 August 2020 the charges against Vahan Poghosyan were amended and he was again charged with committing crimes during 2015-2016.
The charge is brought for the fact that Vahan Poghosyan, being the Deputy Minister of Health of the RA coordinating work in the field of organizing medical care and service in the RA, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS prevention and medical care organization, programs implemented with funding from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the US Agency for International Development in the territory of the RA, organized and directed the embezzlement of particularly large amounts of funds — 78,341,320 AMD — from sums transferred to the aforementioned organizations, continuously, by the director of the RA Ministry of Health’s “National Center for Tuberculosis Control” SNCO, with the involvement of an NGO and the assistance of the heads of 2 LLCs, of which more than 2/3, as the organizer of the embezzlement, was provided to Vahan Poghosyan, while the remaining part — 20,591,320 AMD — was disposed of by the center’s director for personal purposes.
In addition, Vahan Poghosyan organized and directed the commission of embezzlement of a particularly large amount — a total of 8,371,880 AMD — from the “Social Support for Tuberculosis Patients” program of the “National Center for Tuberculosis Control” by the center’s director, by formally registering two employees and taking the salaries written out in their names for themselves.
In addition, the former deputy minister of health of the RA, for leniency and patronage in service, demanded from the center’s director, as a bribe in the form of property advantage of particularly large amount, the purchase and provision to him for personal use of a car bought for 17,600,000 AMD as needed by the Center, after which he also demanded that the Center’s funds cover the car’s running costs and received monthly fuel coupons for 100 liters of gasoline as a bribe.
By the decision of the RA Criminal Court of Appeal of 7 September 2020, the prosecutor’s appeal was granted and detention was chosen as a preventive measure against Vahan Poghosyan.
In the various stages of the preliminary investigation of the said criminal case, charges have been brought against 12 persons, including A.H., the director of the “National Center for Tuberculosis Control” SNCO, against whom bail has been applied as an alternative preventive measure to detention.
