State Suffered Loss of 84.8 Billion Drams: Details from 2018 Investigations

The Office of the Prosecutor General of Armenia has studied and summarized the overall situation regarding the damage caused to the state by crime and its recovery throughout 2018.

The investigation revealed that the total damage inflicted on the state from crimes uncovered in 2018 amounted to 84,869,951,060 Armenian drams, according to criminal cases initiated by competent authorities of the Republic of Armenia.

Of the stated cases, damage worth 19,788,780,504 drams was uncovered by the Investigative Department of the National Security Service of Armenia, 19,059,578,008 drams by the Investigative Department of the State Revenue Committee, 11,893,702,087 drams by the Special Investigative Service of Armenia, while the remaining 34,127,890,461 drams are being investigated by the Investigative Committee of Armenia. This includes the criminal case initiated by the Prosecutor General's Office concerning the damage of 23,553,817,000 drams to the state due to the apparent abuses in the implementation process of the "North-South Road Corridor" program.

From the total damage uncovered, 27,775,221,334 drams were recovered in 2018, while approximately 6,922,245,802 drams of damages are secured through available financial means with the necessary procedural tools, namely the seizure of the equivalent amount in national or foreign currency. Of the stated cases, 16,364,401,693 drams were recovered by the Investigative Department of the National Security Service, 8,544,256,013 drams by the Investigative Department of the State Revenue Committee, 1,689,254,799 drams by the Special Investigative Service, and the remaining 1,177,308,829 drams by the Investigative Committee in ongoing investigations.

Additionally, during the investigation of criminal cases handled by the NSS Investigative Department, about 2,644,052,550 drams in fines and penalties have been paid to the state budget.

Many criminal cases are still under investigation. Efforts are being made to recover the remaining amount of damage inflicted on the state.