No info about post-2018 systemic corruption, says chief prosecutor

The general prosecution doesn’t have information about post-2018 systemic corruption in Armenia, Prosecutor-General Anna Vardapetyan has said.

She told lawmakers that the procedure of corruption investigations has changed based on analysis of international cooperation and financial flows.

Vardapetyan said the prosecution doesn’t have any information about corruption crimes committed after 2018 having a systemic nature. 

“In order to assess it as systemic you need time to identify the actors and the links,” she said, explaining the reasons. 

The studies of major financial flows is now of primary significance, she said.

“Over 90% of corruption crimes are linked with banking turnover. The capacity of prosecutors is being developed so they are able to read and understand bank secrecy,” Vardapetyan said.

She highlighted the application of the criminal code article on money laundering, which was previously not used because of legislative gaps. But due to precedent court rulings, the article is now applied in line with international standards.

Vardapetyan said the prosecution is actively cooperating internationally.

“We were facing a problem for many years, when other countries were not providing bank data. But today we are already cooperating for example with Switzerland, Italy, Greece, the US. Furthermore, negotiations are underway about returning forfeited assets in the US,” Vardapetyan said.