VIDEO: Tax Committee Employees Demanded $30,000 for Not Reporting Violations

The National Security Service of Armenia, adhering to its policy of rooting out various manifestations of corruption, has revealed another case of abuse of official power and the receipt and giving of particularly large bribes through operational and investigative measures conducted within the framework of its legal functions.

According to the NSS, based on the factual data obtained, two chief tax inspectors from the Comprehensive Tax Inspections Department of the State Revenue Committee (SRC) of Armenia, who are officials endowed with the functions of a representative of authority, have violated their official powers while conducting a comprehensive tax inspection at a business entity based on the assignment of the SRC Chairman, acting from self-interest and contrary to the interests of service.

These officials, in particular, took no measures to prevent and uncover the violations and did not record the identified violations in the act they composed, thereby causing significant harm to the legal interests of the state, discrediting the state body - the State Revenue Committee of Armenia, and disrupting its normal activities. This created favorable conditions for concealing the violations and committing new violations, resulting in severe consequences.

Instead of fulfilling their official duties, these officials, in preliminary agreement, demanded a bribe of $30,000 equivalent to 14,807,400 AMD from the company's director in exchange for not reporting the identified violations and not creating additional tax liabilities to the inspected company, with the assistance of the individual keeping the accounts of this business entity in early March 2020. Of this amount, 4,000,000 AMD was received from the company's director by one of the inspectors on March 20, 2020, under the supervision of the NSS operational units on the 15th kilometer of the Yerevan-Sevan highway, after which the individuals involved were apprehended and taken into custody.

A criminal case has been initiated by the NSS Investigative Department regarding the alleged crimes under the relevant articles of the Criminal Code of Armenia, and four individuals suspected of committing the alleged offenses have been arrested. During the search conducted, the bribe was found in the vehicle of one of the inspectors, and the head of the business entity confessed to the fact of giving a bribe during the confrontation.

Charges have been brought against the two inspectors conducting the check, and the court has chosen detention as a preventive measure. The investigation is ongoing, and measures are being taken to identify all individuals involved in the corruption chain and to provide a commensurate legal assessment of their actions.