Armenian anti-corruption agency detains defence officials for bribery

A special investigative measure by the Anti-Corruption Committee of Armenia has looked into a case regarding the extortion of bribes from citizens by an official of the Defence Ministry.

According to Caliber.Az, citing the Armenian media, the inquiry was initiated due to a complaint received by the committee from civilians, reporting bribes in the amount of 150-170,000 drams (approx. $390-$440).

The anti-corruption agency has published the following statement regarding the incident: "A preliminary investigation conducted in the case, initiated by the anti-corruption committee, has found that citizen M.V., who received citizenship in the Armenian Republic, has registered on May 2, 2023 prior to obtaining his passport at the Armed Forces' service for conscription and mobilization replenishment.

Then, on the same day, the said citizen was contacted by R. G. and offered to pay a bribe of 150,000 drams (approx. $390) to an official of the Ministry of Defence in return for providing the documents earlier and not getting summoned to training cycles in the future.

After that, the citizen submitted a complaint to the anti-corruption committee regarding this request for a bribe, on the basis of which the secret investigative action of 'imitating the paying out of a bribe' was carried out within the framework of the initiated proceedings in the committee. In the course of this, an officer of the planning and analysis department of the conscription and mobilization service of the ministry of defence, Major S. S. was given a bribe of 150,000 drams through the mediation of R.G. Both were detained immediately thereafter.

During the preliminary investigation, 4 other similar episodes were discovered. Following their well-established scheme, K.M. sent the data of those who applied to the mobilization office to the phone number of the wife of his friend, R.G. He called and asked for a bribe to speed up the transfer of documents. The total amount of the bribe was 650,000 drams (approx. $1,690). Citizens were promised that in the future they would not be summoned to the military service, even though such a decision did not fall under the responsibility of K.M.

K.M. has been charged under Article 435 (5 episodes) and R.G. under Article 46-435 (4 episodes). The investigation continues".