The National Security Service (NSS) has declared a wanted notice for former Yerevan mayor and former member of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) Gagik Beklaryan, charging him as an accused for the embezzlement of real estate belonging to Armenia, of particularly large proportions, valued at more than 230 million drams.
According to the NSS, at the same time the court decided to arrest Beklaryan. The former high-ranking official is not in Armenia.
The matter concerns a kindergarten located on Tamanyan Street in the capital. According to the NSS, on 25 December 2008, when Beklaryan held the position of head of the central district, the process of reorganising the kindergarten, which was a community non-commercial organisation, and merging it with another kindergarten was ensured. Then, on 16 March 2009, having assumed the office of mayor of Yerevan, with the aim of completing the criminal intent, he changed by his decision the functional designation of its area of more than 200 square metres and included it in the non-residential section, as a public service area. Afterwards, that real estate was transferred with clearly inadequate compensation, for just over 23 million drams, and on 2 February 2011, by a sale-purchase agreement, it was registered in the name of Beklaryan’s father for 24 million drams, and subsequently, according to the certificate of the right of inheritance by will, it was re-registered as Beklaryan’s property.
