Defense Official Accused of Bribery: New Details

The Investigative Committee of the Republic of Armenia has revealed details regarding bribery incidents involving the deputy chief of the criminal investigation group of the military police department in Gyumri. This was reported by the Committee.

According to factual evidence obtained during the investigation, in the spring of 2020, the deputy chief learned that a resident of Gyumri, with whom he had a close relationship, wished to enter military service. They reached an agreement that he would use his official position to facilitate actions in favor of the resident in exchange for a substantial bribe.

Upon the intermediary’s request, the resident of Gyumri was appointed as the head of the operations section at the military police department in Gyumri. Subsequently, as per their prior agreement, they met near the residence of the deputy chief, where the resident handed him a bribe amounting to 1,500 US dollars, equivalent to 721,950 AMD, for his appointment.

During the investigation, it was also revealed that during the same period, the aforementioned official exploited the vacancy of the chief position in the criminal investigation group. He reached an agreement with a senior officer from the same department to accept a substantial bribe in favor of appointing him to that position. Following this agreement, upon the senior officer's appointment, he was handed a bribe of 2,000 US dollars, equivalent to 967,920 AMD, near the residence of the appointed officer.

Based on the gathered sufficient evidence, allegations have been brought against the deputy chief of the military police department in Gyumri under point 3 of part 3 of Article 311 of the RA Criminal Code (2 episodes), while the head of the criminal investigation group and the head of the operations section from the same department have been accused under part 2 of Article 312 of the RA Criminal Code. A measure to prevent them from leaving has been implemented.

The preliminary investigation has been completed, and the criminal case has been forwarded to the prosecutor overseeing the process with a motion to confirm the indictment and submit it to court.

Notice: A suspect or accused individual is considered innocent until proven guilty in accordance with the legal process defined by the RA Criminal Procedure Code and a legally binding court verdict.