On 1 June, the Anti-Corruption Court accepted the lawsuit filed by the Prosecutor General’s Office regarding the confiscation of property of alleged illicit origin from the former Chairman of the Urban Development Committee, Vahagn Vermishyan.

Clause 2 of Article 5 of the Law “On Confiscation of Property of Illegal Origin” was the basis for starting a study on illegal properties. That is: there is a criminal case in which Vermishyan was involved as an accused.

In response to Iravaban.net ‘s inquiry, the Prosecutor’s Office clarified that Vermishyan acquired all the properties subject to confiscation before taking office in Yerevan Municipality. The respondent settled in the Russian Federation for decades and carried out intense professional activities. 

Vermishyan held his first position in the Republic of Armenia from July 2017 to 2018, he was an advisor to the Mayor of Yerevan on a public basis. In 2019, he was appointed the Chairman of the Urban Development Committee, and was relieved in February 2020.

Vahagn Vermishyan acquired Russian citizenship over the decades and currently has a dual citizenship. Vermishyan’s projects include: Renovation of the first and second terminals of Domodedovo International Airport, the Sochi seaport with its near-shore infrastructure, a multi-purpose sports complex in Astrakhan, Yerevan Circus, many shopping centers. He participated in the development of city projects in the UAE and Sudan.

Vahagn Vermishyan owns (has owned) by right of ownership the following properties:

An apartment on Vardanants Street, Yerevan (acquired on 08.11.2010),
A residential house in Stepanavan (acquired on 27.12.1994),
A land plot in Stepanavan (acquired on 30.01.2007),
An arable land in Agarak Community (acquired on 31.05.2004),
A reaping plot in Agarak (acquired on 31.05.2004),
A land plot near the house in Agarak (acquired on 31.08.2006),
A Volvo XC90 2.5T car (considered a legitimate acquisition).

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the property included in the above list, that is: the apartment in Yerevan, the land plot in Stepanavan, the land plot in Agarak and about 46 million drams, which were not proved by legal income, are subject to confiscation.

According to the plaintiff, the sum of the average market values ​​of the real estate properties of illegal origin, which are currently available and subject to confiscation, belonging to Vahagn Vermishyan and his related persons, as of the moment of filing the claim, amounts to around 441 million drams.

The Prosecutor’s Office noted that Vahagn Vermishyan received around 65 million 885 thousand drams of legal income and spent around 186 million 904 thousand drams during the entire period under study (starting from 2006), which includes the acquisition of immovable and movable properties. “Thus, it is obvious that property acquisitions and expenses incurred by the person are not justified by legitimate income.”

The position of the respondent is that either the competent authority was not interested in conducting a proper investigation, both in the RA and in the RF, or Vahagn Vermishyan did not carry out any activity, showing complete inactivity not only in his professional field, but also in his life. And thus a question arises as by what means Vahagn Vermishyan and his family were able to “survive”. “In the factual data provided by the claimant, there is no data related to the professional activity and financial situation developed in the Russian Federation as a result of many years.”

Earlier, lawyer Alexander Kochubaev also stated that Vahagn Vermishyan was not provided with the right to give explanations regarding the property, and was not given a reasonable time to receive and submit documents from Russia and Africa. Vermishyan’s being in prison complicates the process of obtaining the mentioned data even more.

Under the mentioned conditions, the Prosecutor’s Office concluded that Vahagn Vermishyan and his related persons did not have sufficient legal income to acquire the mentioned properties.

On 6 October, the preliminary court session in the case was held, during which Naira Artashesyan, the prosecutor  of the Department for Confiscation of Property of Illicit Origin of the Prosecutor General’s Office, confirmed that the study was conducted exclusively in the RA, no inquiries were made to other countries.

Vahagn Vermishyan was also present at the above session. He asked the prosecutor: “I have a question. If similar claims can be made regarding all those who contributed to the RA by working abroad, then Alek Manukyan and his daughter could be asked, Kirk Kerkorian, Samvel Karapetyan or other people who worked abroad and contributed to the RA. Or you can file a lawsuit against people who worked as a taxi driver day and night in some Belgian city and acquired property. Ask: where did you get that property?

The respondent is confident that in order to assess the credibility of the above facts, it is necessary to obtain factual data from the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation and the Tax Service.

According to that, the acquisition of factual data should be realized through legal inquiries and other means, which requires quite a lot of time.

Anti-Corruption Expert Marat Atovmyan said in an interview with Iravaban.net that the institution of confiscation of illicit property is seen as an anti-corruption measure to fight corruption, especially among the elite. That is to fight corruption among the high-ranking officials. Because the high-ranking officials submit relevant declarations regarding their property and assets before taking office or during their office, and if they acquire certain valuable property during their office or after that, which is not justified by their legal income, in this case, this property should be considered as illicit origin and confiscated.

The Anti-Corruption Expert notes that the Law “On Confiscation of Property of Illegal Origin” in force in RA has an extremely wide range of subjects and it does not apply only to high-ranking officials.

“In my opinion, any person, as well as persons working abroad, can come to the RA and buy expensive property or just property. The persons who went abroad for work can currently fall under the enforcement of the above-mentioned law, which, in my opinion, is not a correct approach. Legislative changes should be made and the scope of these persons decreased so that the Law “On Confiscation of Property of Illegal Origin” is viewed more as an anti-corruption measure, especially a means of fighting against “elite” corruption,” the Anti-Corruption Expert Marat Atovmyan says.

According to Marat Atovmyan, the competent authority should apply sufficient efforts and professional abilities to compile the list of properties subject to confiscation in a reasonable and accurate manner.

At the end of the previously mentioned session, Vahagn Vermishyan insisted on his earlier statement, noted that the case is political, “those responsible will be held accountable accordingly”.