In order to verify the grounds for initiating an investigation into the existence of property of possible illegal origin, in 2020 the RA Prosecutor’ General’s Office received materials on 201 criminal cases against 430 persons from other subdivisions of the Prosecutor’s Office of the RA. In 2021, materials on 18 criminal cases, 1 verdict and 3 materials on the data found as a result of operative-investigative measures.
The Prosecutor General’s Office reported.
As a result of checking the grounds for starting a study based on the mentioned materials, 214 decisions to launch a study were made in 2020, and 26 decisions in 2021.
Numerous actions have been taken as part of the study. In particular, about 2100 inquiries were sent to state and local self-government bodies, state and community (including the state and community participation) organizations, individual and legal entities, about 2000 answers were received. The scope of the property of illicit origin, the beneficial owners, their related persons, the volume of the property, as well as other instructions for carrying out operative-investigative measures were given in order to find out other circumstances necessary for the study, 61 responses were received.
In the framework of 7 studies, requests for international legal assistance were sent, 4 of which received a response letter. Regarding the property and/or persons located in the territory of the Republic of Armenia, 4 international inquiries were received from the competent authorities of foreign countries, within the framework of which the Department sent replies to the competent authorities of the requesting states.
21 applications were submitted to the Court of First Instance of the city of Yerevan for information constituting banking, insurance or trade secrets. The court has so far made 18 decisions, of which 12 applications provided banking secrecy in full and 6 applications in part. An appeal was filed against one of the mentioned decisions.
In order to find out the market value of the property of illicit origin found during the study, 11 expert examinations were appointed, 3 of which received an opinion from the expert institution.
The Department for Confiscation of Property of Illicit Origin of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Armenia has submitted 6 applications to the Court on the application of preliminary security measures. In particular, 4 applications for 3 studies have already been upheld by the Court.
The completed investigations revealed 20 real estate and 5 movable property of alleged illicit origin, shares of 3 joint-stock companies, as well as AMD 6,194,611,586.
In the framework of the mentioned 3 studies, the relevant stakeholders have already been notified, invited to get acquainted with the materials collected as a result of the study, to present their position on the received data.
