On 25 March, the Anti-Corruption Civil Court held a hearing on the confiscation of assets and funds of allegedly illicit origin of the former Mayor of Yerevan, currently a member of the National Assembly Taron Margaryan and his family members.

The Prosecutor’s Office demands to confiscate in favor of the Republic of Armenia  from Taron Margaryan, his wife, his mother, 2 sons and their wives the following:

• Six residential houses located in Avan administrative district of Yerevan city, one area of ​​public significance, one country house located in Jermuk city of Vayots Dzor region, two vehicles, and in case of impossibility, their average market value, which is 1 billion 528 million 800 thousand 500 AMD .
• Average market value of participation in one legal entity.
• Average market values ​​of one immovable and three movable properties in Yerevan.
• 853 million 402 thousand 782 AMD, of which 755 million 154 thousand 928 AMD are the balance of illegal income and 98 million 247 thousand 854 AMD, which are not justified by the legal income of a person, have an illicit origin and cannot be confiscated based on Part 4 of Article 20 of the Law on Confiscation of Property of Illicit Origin (“Where the illicit property has been transferred to a bona fide acquirer, or it is impossible to identify, separate or confiscate the illicit property, upon the court decision and in case there is a relevant request, an amount equal to the market value of the illicit property as of the time of filing a claim may be confiscated from the respondent, and in the case of impossibility of determining the market value – the amount equal to the acquisition of the given property”).
• 2 garages.

It should be noted that the court allowed the live broadcasting, video recording and photography of the court session by the mass media. Only Mushegh Arakelyan, the representative of Taron Margaryan’s eldest son’s wife Karine Margaryan, was against. According to him, personal data, which should not be made public, will be published. However, the judge found that the case does not concern private interest, and the defendants are public persons, and fully satisfied the petitions of the journalists.

According to Iravaban.net, the Presiding Judge Karapet Badalyan also announced that the plaintiff submitted a petition to the court to include new defendants, as well as to change the subject and basis of the claim.

Both Mushegh Arakelyan and Benik Galstyan, the representative of Taron Margaryan and his wife Gohar Sargsyan, announced in the court that they did not receive the prosecutor’s petition. The judge said that after the petitioner presents the petition in court, the lawyers will be given an opportunity to familiarize themselves with it and then express their position on it.

Ruzanna Khudaverdyan, the Prosecutor of the Department for Confiscation of Property of Illicit Origin of the Prosecutor General’s Office, said in court that the Prosecutor’s Office had appointed an expert to find out the value of the car purchased in 2014 for 1 million AMD. According to the expertized, the average market value of the given property, as of that day, was 20 million 500 thousand AMD, in connection with which a recalculation was carried out.

“The conclusion of the expert regarding the construction works, development and investment cost on Safaryan street of Avan administrative district, was also received. “According to the expert opinion, in 2014 construction works worth 242 million 745 thousand AMD were performed in total, which was also included in the calculation,” the prosecutor said.

Ruzanna Khudaverdyan also reported that in February 2022, Taron Margaryan’s sisters, Ani and Haykanush Margaryan, were given Lexus cars as a donation. According to the position of the competent body, those cars, in the sense of the law, continue to belong to Taron Margaryan. “Therefore, Haykanush and Ani Margaryan are not bona fide acquirers. A petition has been filed in connection with involving the latter as new respondents.

The Prosecutor’s Office demands confiscation of the mentioned cars.

In addition, the plaintiff mentioned that expert conclusions were received regarding the constructions of building No. 1/1 on Babajanyan Street, Yerevan. The average market value of this property was from 533 million 360 thousand AMD to 667 million 50 thousand AMD.

“Also, the market values ​​of movable property and equipment were received, which were presented in the amended claim. As a result of all this, a change was made regarding the monetary claim. The previously mentioned demand of 98 million 247 thousand 854 AMD, which is not justified by the legal income of the person, has an illicit origin, was transferred to a bona fide acquirer, or it is impossible to identify, has undergone changes. As a result of the recalculations, it became 100 million 417 thousand 533 AMD,” the Prosecutor noted.

Taking into account the fact that the representatives of the respondents are not familiar with the motion, as well as the motion presented by the third party “Armenian Business Bank” (regarding the familiarization with the case materials), the judge found that the examination of the case is subject to be postponed.

The next court hearing was scheduled for 23 May.

Yevgenya Hambardzumyan