By Artak Khulian
YEREVAN (Azatutyun) — Prosecutors have decided not to launch criminal proceedings against the head of an Armenian law-enforcement agency tasked with combating corruption after looking into allegations that he abused his power to buy a large apartment at a discount.
Infocom.am revealed last month that Sasun Khachatryan, who runs the Anti-Corruption Committee (ACC), halted a criminal investigation into a wealthy businessman in 2021 shortly after purchasing the apartment in a new residential district constructed by the latter’s company in Yerevan.
Khachatryan paid 71 million drams ($180,000) for the 167-square-meter property. According to the online publication, this is significantly less than what the owners of other apartments located in the same building paid Jermuk Group, a private developer.
The ACC claimed on March 30 that Khachatryan was entitled to the discount because he had booked the apartment in advance of its construction. Infocom.am pointed out, however, that neither the ACC nor Jermuk Group provided any documentary evidence of the apartment reservation.
The publication noted that the ACC investigated Ashot Arsenyan, a well-known businessman who controls Jermuk Group, over vote buying alleged by the Armenian police in 2018. Citing a lack of incriminating evidence, the law-enforcement body suspended the investigation in October 2021. seven months after Khachatryan formalized his property deal with Arsenyan’s firm.