ArmInfo.The former Minister of Finance of Armenia and his deputy caused damage to the state in the amount of 1.747 billion drams. This is stated in the message of the National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia received in ArmInfo.
According to the source, as a result of the investigation, evidence was received that the official in 2014- 2016 who held the post of Deputy Minister of Finance, in the specified period, by prior arrangement with his head, the then Minister of Finance, used his official position contrary to the interests of the service.
In order to present the work in the field of international cooperation in the most positive light, based on the group interests of creating the appearance of developing customs administration and re-equipping customs authorities with modern technology, as well as ignoring the real needs of customs structures, within non- outgoing loans under preferential terms signed by the government from the needs of the customs service they acquired 8500 electronic locks worth 2 282 387 249 drams. At the same time, for the needs of the customs system itself, a maximum of 2000 was necessary, and in fact, only 251 electronic locks were used until October 2019.
As a result, due to the actions of the former Minister of Finance and his deputy, not only the normal work of the state body was disrupted, but the loans provided to the Armenian government in especially large amounts were not used for the purpose, and the state was damaged in the amount of AMD 1 747 195 905. When comparing the interrelated, sufficient reliable evidence, a decision was made to attract an official who previously held the position of Deputy Minister of Finance of Armenia as the accused under the relevant article of the Criminal Code. Given the fact that he left Armenia in June 2018, an international wanted list was declared against him, and arrest was chosen as a measure of restraint. The investigation continues, measures are being taken to identify the wanted person and verify his involvement in the commission of other crimes.
To note, however, that the NSS message, apparently, based on the presumption of innocence, does not indicate the names of officials.