Abuse in the Provision of Support Measures for Individuals with Mobility Impairments

Based on a report addressed by the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs of Armenia to the Prosecutor General of Armenia, investigations have been conducted at the Prosecutor's Office of Lori Province within the framework of state interests protection. These investigations focused on the allocation of support measures to beneficiaries with mobility impairment based on state certificates, as well as verifying the appropriateness and effectiveness of the state funds allocated for this purpose.

The Prosecutor General's Office has reported that the investigation revealed that two organizations, selected through a qualification process, had entered into contracts with the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of Armenia, obligating them to provide quality support measures to beneficiaries based on state certificates in accordance with the Government's decision No. 1035-N dated September 10, 2015. They were to tailor these measures to the beneficiaries' needs, deliver them, and obtain their written consent before instructing them on how to use these supports, also committing to fulfill contractual obligations without receiving any advance payment.

However, it was found that officials from one of these organizations, motivated by significant financial gain through fraudulent means, failed to deliver prosthetic and orthopedic rehabilitation equipment to three beneficiaries in October and November 2019. Instead of providing these supports, they compiled, approved, and submitted false invoices, confirming the provision of services to the Ministry, thereby misleading the client.

In another organization, staff members, taking advantage of the contract with the Ministry, aimed to fraudulently steal substantial amounts of money by obtaining low-quality and unusable support measures, which they provided to six beneficiaries between March and April 2019 under government budget funding. They misled both the beneficiaries and the Ministry by submitting falsified invoices and other documents, hiding the fact that the provided supports were of poor quality or unsuitable for use.

As a result, significant amounts of money were unjustly transferred to the organizations’ accounts, which were fraudulently embezzled by the competent persons using their official positions. Given that the studies indicated signs of theft of significant amounts of another's property through deception or misappropriation of trust using official position, as well as forgery of documents and their distribution or use, two criminal cases were initiated at the Prosecutor's Office of Lori Province under Article 178, Part 2, Clause 1.1, and Article 325, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of Armenia. The preliminary investigation was entrusted to the Lori Province Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of Armenia.