Today, on 5 January, the Anti-Corruption Court started the judicial investigation into the confiscation of property of alleged illicit origin belonging to former judge Samvel Uzunyan and his wife Alla Harutyunyan. Judge Lili Drmeyan presided over the session.
To remind, in the past, the Judge of the Court of General Jurisdiction of Avan and Nor Nork Administrative Districts of Yerevan, Samvel Uzunyan, examined the case of 27 October. He has been in the status of accused since 20 December, 2019. The Court made a decision to detain him, however, Uzunyan crossed the RA state border and a search warrant was announced for him.
According to Iravaban.net, during today’s session, Mihran Bulghadaryan, Prosecutor of the Department for Confiscation of Property of Illicit Origin of the Prosecutor General’s Office publicized the submitted claim in court.
Thus, the plaintiff demands to confiscate from the defendants about 17 million 745 thousand drams as the balance of illicit funds, about 195 million drams, which were not justified by Samvel Uzunyan’s legal income. In addition, a request was made to confiscate the private house belonging to his wife, Alla Harutyunyan, located in Ushi Community of Aragatsotn Marz. In case of impossibility, the Prosecutor’s Office demands to confiscate from Samvel Uzunyan an amount equal to the average market value of the private house. According to the plaintiff, the total amount of funds of illegal origin belonging to Uzunyan is 213 million 400 thousand drams.
It should be noted that Alla Harutyunyan who was present in the court, did not object to video recording and taking photos of the court session. In addition, after the session, Harutyunyan answered several questions of Iravaban.net. However, prior to it, the Prosecutor presented some interesting details in the court.
For example, the private house in the Ush community was bought and initially registered under the name of Uzunyan’s mother-in-law, then his sister-in-law, and finally his wife. Emma Simonyan bought the property in 2002 for $6,300.
“It is noteworthy that as a result of the pledges of the said property, Samvel Uzunyan received 2 loans in 2013, when his wife was not yet the owner of the property, and in 2016, after the wife became the owner of the property, with a total volume of 197 million drams. At the time of acquiring the property, Emma Simonyan was a pensioner, she received a monthly pension of 44 thousand 825 drams, therefore she could not possess the funds necessary for the acquisition of the mentioned property,” Mihran Bulghadaryan stated in the court.
The Prosecutor also said that significant improvements were made to the said property at different times. The property, worth $6,300 in 2002, was valued at around 141 million drams in 2013, but the extent and value of the improvements have not yet been determined. According to him, the Prosecutor’s Office received information that Uzunyan made significant improvements in 2007-2009, which were also reported by his neighbors and construction workers. Those persons mentioned that the house belongs to Uzunyan. “One of the people who participated in the construction works of the house mentioned that pottery works were done in the bathroom and the swimming pool of the house. He could not say the volume and cost, but he noted that the cost of similar works in the mentioned period was 250 thousand drams for 1 square meter. Comparing the facts, it can be stated that the work done on that parts of the house alone could cost around 10 million drams.”
During the study, the mentioned private house was valued at around 38 million drams, but according to the Prosecutor, the expert did not have the opportunity to study the internal and external decorations of the house, so he will submit a motion to conduct a new examination in the later stages of the trial.
Samvel Uzunyan’s wife told the Court that the private house belongs to her, before that it belonged to her mother, and her mother had enough funds to buy the house. According to Alla Harutyunyan, the Prosecutor’s Office did not take into account the fact that her aunt lives in France and regularly helped her sister. “During the acquisition and development of the real estate, my husband’s participation was as a participant in conversations with people, as my father was dead at that time. It was Samvel who got involved in these affairs, he always made arrangements with my mother, and he went to make deals. That is the reason why the inhabitants of the village could be see and consider him as the owner of the house.
The respondent also mentioned that even now the house is mortgaged in the “Gladzor Universal Credit Organization”. She stated that she gave his consent to sell the property and repay the debt. Alla Harutyunyan also stated that she does not have legal knowledge, and due to her financial situation, she did not hire a lawyer.
Mihran Bulghadaryan stated that he was familiar with the respondent’s position, the data presented were checked as far as possible, some factual circumstances were not assessed as credible. At the same time, the Prosecutor presented an oral petition to “Gladzor” UCO to be involved in the case as a third party.
The decision on the petition will be made in the form of a separate court act and therefore the session was postponed.
After the session, Iravaban.net asked Alla Harutyunyan several corrections. The respondent claimed that her husband left Armenia in December 2019 due to health problems and after that she had not contacted him.
The wife of the former judge also said that they were in a difficult financial situation after her husband left the country. According to Alla Harutyunyan, Samvel Uzunyan’s departure from the country was planned. And this coincided with the events of initiating the criminal case.
Yevgenya Hambardzumyan
