Investigators detail alleged corruption scheme involving Kocharyan

The Anti-Corruption Committee has provided details of a criminal case against former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan, alleging that he used his position as president to acquire valuable state-owned properties at prices significantly below market value through various schemes.

Kocharyan and his son Sedrak are among six people arrested in the case.

According to a press release from the Anti-Corruption Committee, factual data obtained in the criminal proceedings allegedly indicate that Kocharyan, in prior agreement with people close to him and using his official position, removed a number of valuable properties of public and economic significance from state ownership on various fabricated grounds and acquired them at prices significantly below market value.

In order to conceal the actual ownership and criminal origin of the properties, they were allegedly registered in the names of affiliated companies. The properties were subsequently disposed of by developing and selling them, transferring them to third parties, as well as transferring shares in the companies that owned them, including through donations.

Specifically:

A plot of land measuring 8.3 hectares adjacent to Acharyan and Tsarav Aghbyur streets in Yerevan was acquired for AMD 44,657,000. The Play City entertainment center was built there in 2002. Two years later, on November 15, 2004, a 50% stake in Fast Kart, the company that owned the property, was transferred by donation and registered in the name of the former president's son.

A 2-hectare plot of land located on the left side of the Cascade complex was acquired for AMD 39,630,000. It was subsequently exchanged for another state-owned plot of the same area located in a more advantageous part of Yerevan, which was then sold for AMD 1,741,931,000.

The building at 8 Paronyan Street, which was on the balance sheet of the Yeraspasarkum state-owned closed joint-stock company, was also acquired for AMD 40 million. The 600-square-meter commercial spaces and two parking spaces in the apartment building subsequently constructed there, with a market value of AMD 331,800,000, were registered in the name of the former president's son through sham sale and purchase transactions.

The Kaputak Sevan resort complex in Gegharkunik Province was acquired for AMD 83,669,000, while a 50% stake in Art Build, the company that owned the complex, was registered in the name of the former president's son through a sham sale and purchase transaction on January 15, 2010.

The 29,000-square-meter plot of land belonging to the Olympic Reserve Children's and Youth Sports School at 7/1 Tsitsernakaberd Highway, together with the 1,700-square-meter building located on it, was acquired for AMD 12,267,000. The Orange Fitness premium club was built on the site in 2008, while a 50% stake in the company that owned the property was registered in 2009 through a sham transaction in the name of a company founded by the former president's son.

The preliminary investigation has also obtained data that, in exchange for organizing the process of removing from state ownership and transferring to Piazza Grande the Officers' House building at 20 V. Sargsyan Street, which is a historical and cultural monument, and the unfinished building at 16 Nalbandyan Street, Kocharyan received, as a bribe, 56 real estate properties with a total value of AMD 2,633,934,000. In order to conceal the actual ownership and origin of the properties, they were registered under sham sale and purchase agreements in the names of members of the former president's family and organizations affiliated with them.

In another episode, the total market value of the plots of land belonging to the Ministry of Defense at 22 and 22/4 Admiral Isakov Avenue, including land intended for the construction of a research and production station, was AMD 1,393,870,000. However, they were sold to a company belonging to a person close to the former president at a price four times lower. According to the investigation, in exchange for selling the plots at a significantly lower price and ensuring the unhindered establishment of Toyota's representation in Armenia, a 30% stake in Toyota Yerevan was transferred as a bribe to Kocharyan on May 9, 2006. In order to conceal its criminal origin, the stake was registered in the name of the former president's son through sham sale and purchase agreements.

Six people have been arrested as part of the criminal proceedings, including the former president, his son and other people involved in the alleged criminal schemes.

The preliminary investigation is also examining the circumstances surrounding money transfers made in the name of the former president's son between 2001 and 2019, totaling approximately AMD 144 billion, $309 million, €77 million and RUB 18 million, as well as the acquisition of more than three dozen real estate properties in Armenia and abroad belonging to people involved in the proceedings and members of their families. Measures have been taken to impose restrictions on the properties in order to prevent their possible transfer or disposal, the statement said.