A high-ranking general of the Armenian Armed Forces has flipped a piece of Yerevan real estate for a staggering million-dollar profit.

A Hetq investigation has revealed that Poghos Poghosyan, now serving as an assistant to the Head of the Armenian Armed Forces General Staff, purchased a plot of land allocated to the Ministry of Defense years ago in Yerevan’s Nork Nork district where developers now plan to build a twenty-story apartment building.

Poghosyan purchased the land from the ministry in 2013 for 25 million drams (US$62,500). He then transferred the land to his mother-in-law’s name after the 2020 Artsakh war. Last September, the family sold it for 420 million drams ($1.040 million) to a friend of the son of MP Ishkhan Zakaryan.

Hetq began investigating the privatization of the 5,420 square meter plot in 2020, prior to the war. Our inquiries led to the Anti-Corruption Committee launching its own case. The last selling of the plot took place during the preliminary investigation of the criminal case, with the silent consent of the Anti-Corruption Committee.

According to data received from the Cadastre Committee, the Ministry of Defense sold the 5,420 square meter plot to Poghos Poghosyan in 2013. According to the Ministry of Defense, the sale price of the plot was 25 million 215 thousand 556 drams. The Ministry refused to clarify why the land was sold, arguing that all the sales documents, except for the contract, were destroyed because the ministry was no longer obligated to maintain them.

Poghos Poghosyan was Commander of the 2nd Army Corps of the Armenian Ministry of Defense when he bought the land. In 2016, Poghosyan was appointed Head of the Armaments Department of the General Staff.

In September 2020, when Azerbaijan was planning a large-scale attack on Artsakh, Poghos Poghosyan decided to sell the land. A "for sale" sign posted on the plot until the war ended is evidence of this.

After the war, a political crisis arose in Armenia culminating in a statement of the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and several dozen generals demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Four high-ranking generals balked and refused to sign the statement. One was Poghos Poghosyan. 

In 2021, the political tensions calmed, the head of the General Staff changed, and Poghos Poghosyan was relieved as Head of the Armament Department of the Armed Forces. On January 11, 2022, Poghosyan was appointed Assistant to the Head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces.

As the political situation worsened, Poghosyan tried to "unload" the 5,420 square meter plot of land. In November 2020, immediately after the war ended, he set about organizing the safe transfer of the land, donating to his mother-in-law, Lusik  Hovsepyan.

In 2022, while the political situation in Armenia deescalated, the military situation worsened. When Azerbaijani forces attacked Armenia in September, Poghosyan was fervently trying to sell the land and did so for the staggering price of $1 million and change.

When Hetq learnt about the final sale of the land, we again asked the Ministry of Defense to provide a copy of the contract to sell the land to Poghosyan in 2013. The ministry rejected our request, arguing that a criminal case initiated by the Anti-Corruption Committee regarding the expropriation of the land is underway and that all documents are sealed.

Hetq also sent a written request to the Anti-Corruption Committee (ACC). The Committee's response failed to clarify how the land was finally during its preliminary investigation.  The ACC only reported that on April 11, 2022, criminal proceedings were initiated under Article 309, Part 3 of the Criminal Code (on the apparent crime of abuse of official powers by an official). No defendants were named in the criminal proceedings.

This is not the first case investigated by the Anti-Corruption Committee headed by Sasun Khachatryan, when, during the preliminary investigation, the investigators allow or do not prevent former or current officials from expropriating their properties of dubious origin. 

This was the case with the sale of former prime minister Hovik Abrahamyan's private house, and the sale of former defense minister Vigen Sargsyan's apartment.

Who bought the land and for what purpose?

As stated above, on September 20 of this year Garush Papikyan purchased the land from Poghosyan’s mother-in-law, paying 420 million drams. Papikyan took a 4040 million loan from Ameribank and paid 16 million drams from his own pocket.

 Garush Papikyan is a friend of Vardan Zakaryan, the son of National Assembly MP Ishkhan Zakaryan. He is also a business partner with Ishkhan Zakaryan's son-in-law, Khachatur Safaryan (they are the shareholders of Cleaners LLC).

 Garush Papikyan confirmed the fact of his and Ishkhan Zakaryan's son's friendship in a conversation with Hetq and the fact of partnership with the son-in-law. Papikyan said he and Poghos Poghosyan agreed, in writing, that Poghosyan should get his money back if the deal “went sour”.  Papikyan assured Hetq that the transaction and his business activities in general have nothing to do with MP Ishkhan Zakaryan. He said it’s possible to engage in Armenia’s construction business without influential political connections.

In response to our written inquiry, Ishkhan Zakaryan stated that he does not know anyone named Garush Papikyan. Afterwards, Papikyan told us that he last met Ishkhan Zakaryan a year ago while skiing.

Garush Papikyan wants to build a 20-story residential building on the land and has filed a design permit with the Yerevan Municipality.

Visuals: Tirayr Muradyan

Video: Saro Baghdasaryan