Armenian MoD illegally sells land to army general

The Armenian Prosecutor General's Office has opened a criminal case over a big scam involving the former deputy chief of the Armenian Army’s General Staff, Maj Gen Arshaluys Paytyan.

It is about the illegal alienation in 2011 in favour of Paytyan of a land plot assigned to the Armenian Defence Ministry, Caliber.Az reports, quoting Armenian media.

According to Prosecutor General's Office, the 12.5 m² plot on David Bek Street was sold for 87 million drams (about $220,000 at the current exchange rate).

The military prosecutor's office found in April-May 2023 that General Paytyan mortgaged a plot to a bank in February 2012 and received $300,000.

The property was then mortgaged again in December of the same year, the owner received $270,000 from the bank, but the bank valued it at $582,000. Later, the owner transferred the plot to the bank for a debt of $824,500, or 342.3 million drams at the then exchange rate. The government suffered a loss of 255.3 million drams (over $600,000) as the Defence Ministry sold the land underpriced.

Armenian media outlets recall that in September 2012, Paytyan was removed from his post following a scandal involving the supply of buffalo meat to the army.