On 23 May, 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.

Iravaban.net reports that the court allowed the mass media to live broadcast, make video and photo recording of the court session. This time, only the representative of the respondents, Mushegh Arakelyan, had an objection. According to him, personal data, which should not be made public, will be published. The Presiding Judge Karapet Badalyan completely satisfied the petitions of the journalists.

During the previous session, Ruzanna Khudaverdyan, the Prosecutor of the Department for Confiscation of Property of Illicit Origin of the Prosecutor General’s Office had filed a motion to bring in new defendants, as well as to change the subject and basis of the lawsuit.

Today, the representatives of the respondents presented their positions regarding the petition. Both Mushegh Arakelyan and Benik Galstyan asked the court to reject the motion presented by the plaintiff.

“During the entire study phase not any interest was shown regarding Taron Margaryan’s sisters, Ani and Haykanush Margaryan. However, the defendants in the case, the Prosecutor’s Office showed a passive behavior regarding the sisters. At a certain stage of the court investigation, we have a problem where the names of Ani and Haykanush Margaryan are added,” Benik Galstyan said, adding that the Prosecutor’s Office has presented a “drifting claim”.

Mushegh Arakelyan also mentioned that the law “Law on Confiscation of Property of Illicit Origin ” provides for the possibility of confiscation of property of illicit origin if its value exceeds 50 million AMD, but the value of property subject to confiscation from sisters does not exceed 50 million AMD.

Ruzanna Khudaverdyan stated in the court that the law does not require that when confiscating the property from the mentioned 2 persons, as title owners, the value of their property should exceed 50 million AMD.

“Those properties, according to the law, belong to Taron Margaryan, that’s why they are included in the lawsuit. They do not need to be assessed separately, as property,” the prosecutor said.

Details in the video.