Cases of Large Bribes Received by Officials of the State Revenue Committee's Customs Service Unearthed

The competent officials of the Republic of Armenia's State Revenue Committee (SRC) Customs Service utilized their official position against the interests of the service, allowing the import of right-hand drive vehicles into the territory of Armenia without the exceptions stipulated by the law, for financial gain. This occurred despite the law adopted on March 1, 2018, which mandated that, from April 1, 2018, the importation under the 'release for internal consumption' customs procedure of right-hand drive vehicles, as well as personal vehicles for individual use, was prohibited.

In 2020, following this misconduct, the customs clearance and release of these vehicles into the Republic of Armenia took place. Prior to this, the same officials included blatantly false information regarding the steering system's position in the documents for customs clearance, declaring them as left-hand drive, damaging the reputation and credibility of the SRC and violating the rights of citizens who imported vehicles and were legally deprived of clearance opportunities.

Moreover, during the preparation of materials, factual data were also obtained indicating that the competent officials of the police's registration and inspection departments, authorized according to the Government of Armenia's Decision N-1251 from September 9, 2010, failed to properly inspect vehicles presented by citizens for registration, as they were obliged to compare their actual data with documentary data. Between 2019 and 2020, right-hand drive vehicles imported by citizens into Armenia were falsely registered as left-hand drive vehicles during this procedure, thereby enabling their owners to manage, utilize, or possess these vehicles without restriction.

In exchange for significant bribes received for each vehicle’s registration, officials were allegedly involved in concealing the actual steering configuration of the vehicles, leading to the issuance of temporary registration plates based on fabricated documentation.

In connection with this case, the Investigative Department of the RA National Security Service has initiated a criminal case under several articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia, including Article 308, Article 311, Article 38-311, Article 312, and Article 314. An investigation is ongoing, and measures are being taken to identify other officials and citizens involved in this corrupt scheme, as well as to evaluate their actions legally.