Last year, the Armenian government amended the 2019 annual income tax returns of officials, making more detailed information on their assets available to the public.

More specifically, from now on, officials must disclose who gave them donations and where their income comes from, and they must indicate how much money they have in cash and in bank accounts. Officials also redeclared all the property they had acquired up to that period in their 2019 tax returns.

Our investigation of redeclared property showed that a number of officials had property declarations that did not appear in any of the previous declarations.

While much online data on property and income of officials was made public by the 2019 tax returns, to this day it’s hard to know whether significant revelations have been made about the declarations submitted to the relevant authorities.

The Hetq Media Factory team examined the 2019 tax returns of Investigative Committee officials, as those were the last published, and found violations and potential corruption cases. In particular, there are cases of officials not declaring property or making expensive purchases when they didn’t have sufficient financial means, as well as a number of dubious donations.

Though it has been 11 months since the 2019 tax returns were made public, so far the relevant authorities have not published information about violations found in the declarations. The Corruption Prevention Commission has started examining individual declarations based on the violations we have uncovered.

Undeclared property

Statements regarding Investigative Committee officials started to be published on the Corruption Prevention Commission website in 2017. In that same year, Committee employees filed declarations to assume their positions. This means that their real estate and personal property, income, financial resources, and valuables at that time should have been included in the declaration. However, our research shows that some officials did not declare their real property at that time but redeclared them two years later in 2019.

For example, Garik Nahapetyan, Senior Investigator at the Investigative Committee’s Yerevan City Center and Nork Marash Administrative Districts Investigation Department, declared a BMW donated in 2017 in his 2019 tax return. He didn’t declare that car in his 2017 tax return or the following year.

Garik Nahapetyan also bought a Ford Fusion Comfort worth $8,000 on November 29, 2019 but, according to the declaration, he did not have the financial means in cash or in his bank account that year.

The investigator reported that the donated BMW was not declared in 2017 and 2018 due to a technical error. However, Garik Nahapetyan refused to explain how he bought a Ford Fusion Comfort worth $8,000 in 2019 without having the financial means. He only noted that he had declared it in accordance with requirements.

The Corruption Prevention Commission reported no inconsistencies in declarations submitted by Garik Nahapetyan.

Mikael Zadoyan, Senior Investigator of the Investigation Department’s Erebuni and Nubarashen Administrative Districts, declared an apartment and parking space that he acquired on October 2, 2017 in his 2019 tax return. He also didn’t declare that property when he assumed his position in 2017 or the following year.

“The 4th question in the 2017 declaration asks about ‘real estate that was acquired in the tax year’. It’s not declared in 2017 since I jointly acquired the property in Arabkir, Yerevan from the developer in 2015. The Corruption Prevention Commission later made significant changes to the declaration content, and I was asked to present information about my real estate, tangible property, and assets,” explained the Special Investigation Service investigator in response to our inquiry.

The Corruption Prevention Commission informed us that the findings on Mikael Zadoyan’s declarations will be presented to the Commission at a later time.

There are also inconsistencies in the declarations of Alexey Karapetyants, investigator at the Kanaker-Zeytun Administrative District Investigation Department.

The Special Investigation Service investigator’s 2017 tax return contains information about an alienated apartment and parking lot, while the 2019 tax return states that the investigator acquired the apartment and parking lot in November 2017.

If the same property is referred to in the 2017 and 2019 tax returns, then why is it stated as alienated in the 2017 declaration and acquired in the 2019 declaration?

In response to our inquiry, Alexey Karapetyants said that in 2017 there was a technical error in his declaration that designated the property alienated when in fact it was not alienated. Thus, it refers to the same property.

The Corruption Prevention Commission responded to our inquiry, informing us that there was a discrepancy in Alexey Karapetyants’ 2017 tax return and that the Commission will present its findings at a later time.

Aspram Avanesyan, Special Case Investigator at the Special Investigative Service’s Fourth Garrison Investigation Division General Military Investigation Department, was gifted an apartment in 2018 but did not declare it in his 2018 tax return.

Avanesyan only declared the donated apartment in his 2019 tax return.

We asked the Special Case Investigator to disclose who donated the apartment to him, for what purpose, and why he did not declare it in his 2018 tax return.

Aspram Avanesyan did not respond to our inquiry.

The Corruption Prevention Commission informed us that there were discrepancies found in Special Investigative Service Investigator Aspram Avanesyan’s 2018 and 2019 tax returns and that the Commission will present its findings at a later time.

Nersik Mkhitaryan, Deputy Head of the Arabkir Administrative District’s Investigation Department, declared a plot of land that he acquired in December 2008 in his 2019 tax return. The investigator didn’t declare that land in his 2017 tax return when he assumed his position. 

Nersik Mkhitaryan stated that he didn’t declare the land acquired in December 2008 in his 2017 tax return due to a technical error and that he corrected it in his 2019 tax return.

The Corruption Prevention Commission confirmed that a preliminary investigation of Nersik Mkhitaryan’s tax returns showed that he declared a plot of land in Armavir that he acquired on December 27, 2018 in his 2019 tax returns, which he didn’t declare in his 2017 tax return.

Armen Margaryan, Head of the Serious Crimes Investigation Division of the Yerevan Investigation Department, did not declare the 8 plots of land he owned when he assumed his position.

More specifically, Armen Margaryan has held land in Varser in the Gegharkunik region since 2004. He didn’t declare those plots when he assumed his position in 2017 but did so in his 2019 tax return.

According to Armen Margaryan, Head of the Serious Crimes Investigation Division of the Yerevan Investigation Department, those lands are for farming and were acquired after collective farms were abolished. Margaryan says that he declared it once he found out in 2020 that they have a land certificate dating back to 2004.

In response to our inquiry, the Corruption Prevention Commission reported that there were inconsistencies in Armen Margaryan’s tax returns but that the findings will be published at a later time.

Argishti Kotanjyan, Deputy Head of the Talin Investigation Division of the Aragatsotn Regional Investigation Department, acquired 7 plots of land in Artashavan, Aragatsotn in 2017-2018 but only declared them in his 2019 tax return.

Argishti Kotanjyan bought 5 of the plots in 2018 and 2 in 2017.

Argishti Kotanjyan explained that not all of his real estate was declared owing to a technical mistake made while filing his 2017 and 2018 tax returns. The investigator stated that the mistake was corrected and that all the information is recorded in his 2019 tax return.

In response to our inquiry, the Corruption Prevention Commission stated that preliminary findings show inconsistencies in Argishti Kotanjyan’s tax returns and that findings will be presented by the Commission at a later time.

Argam Mailyan, Deputy Head of the Berd Investigation Division of the Tavush Regional Investigation Department, acquired three plots of land in Navur, Tavush in 2002 but didn’t declare them in his 2017 tax return. He only declared these plots to the Corruption Prevention Commission in his 2019 tax return, noting joint ownership of the plots.

Argam Mailyan explained that during the years of mass privatization in the 1990s, his father legally acquired a house with three plots of land in the area around Navur in Berd, Tavush. In 2002, during a time when cadastral certificates were commonly issued for real estate in rural areas, the house was under Argam Mailyan’s father, Styopa Mailyan, who was registered as the sole owner, but other family members were also registered under the same house as co-owners, including Argam Mailyan. He asserts that he was not aware of being registered as a co-owner of the house, since those lands haven’t been used since the mid-90s and the property tax was paid by the investigator’s father, Styopa Mailyan. That is why he didn’t declare the three land plots in his 2017 tax return. Argam Mailyan claims that he found out about his joint ownership of the three land plots in 2019, when he first paid the property taxes, and included them in his tax returns thereafter. 

The Corruption Prevention Commission confirmed that Argam Mailyan declared 3 plots of land at the Navur address in Tavush, which he acquired in February and July 2002, in his 2019 tax returns but that the real estate was not declared in 2017 when he assumed his position.

Aram Harutyunyan, Senior investigator of Special Cases at the General Investigation Department and Electoral Crimes Investigation Department, declared three plots of land in his 2019 tax return that was presented to the Corruption Prevention Commission, which he acquired before assuming his position. However, he only declared one of those plots in 2017 when he took his position.

Aram Harutyunyan refused to explain to us why he didn’t declare those plots but noted that he informed the Corruption Prevention Commission about not declaring 2 plots of land that he jointly owned in 2017-2018.

The Corruption Prevention Commission states that Aram Harutyuan declared two plots of land in Talvorik, Armavir in his 2019 tax return, which he acquired on May 29, 2003 and June 2, 2003, but didn’t declare them in his 2017 tax return.

The 2019 and 2020 tax returns of Avetik Tovmasyan, Senior Investigator at the Investigation Department’s City Center and Nork-Marash Administrative Districts, show some inconsistencies relating to the declaration of real estate. More specifically, the investigator only declared 3 residential homes and apartments in his 2017 tax returns when he assumed his position but declared 4 plots of land in Azatan, Shirak in his 2019 tax returns, where it states that he inherited the lands in 2004.

In their preliminary investigation, the Corruption Prevention Commission states that there are inconsistencies in Avetik Tovmasyan’s tax returns and that they will present these findings at a later time.

The Corruption Prevention Commission did not conduct a separate investigation of the 2019 tax returns of Investigative Committee employees. Chairperson of the Commission Haykuhi Harutyunyan noted this in a conversation with us. The Commission only began examining tax returns of employees when we registered violations and applied to the Commission for clarification.

When asked about investigators not declaring property when they assume their positions while it’s clear from their 2019 taxes that they have previously acquired property, the chairperson of the Commission answered that the Commission needs to receive data from other bodies in order to draw conclusions.

The Chairperson of the Commission doesn’t believe that there is a need to make changes to the declaration process and tax return forms. “At the moment, the existing tax return form is already sufficiently publicly accessible, as the government requires 80% of the data to be publicly available. At this time, there are no issues related to the declaration process, the form, and expanding the scope of declarations,” said Haykuhi Harutyunyan.

Large gifts received and property acquired by investigators: Part 2

Authors:

Mkrtich Khachatryan,

Alla Panosyan,

Angin Movsisyan

Coordinator: Diana Ghazaryan