In what Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian portrayed as a major anti-corruption initiative, the Armenian government moved on Thursday to make it much easier for law-enforcement bodies to access bank account data.
Armenian banks are presently required to provide tax and law-enforcement authorities with information about financial accounts of only those clients who are accused or suspected of certain crimes. Also, investigators need permission from prosecutors and courts before demanding access to such data.
A bill drafted by the Justice Ministry and approved by Pashinian’s cabinet would allow them to see what practically any person in Armenia has in their domestic bank accounts. Deputy Justice Minister Rafik Grigorian said this would greatly facilitate criminal investigations into bribery and other corrupt practices.
“The thing is that often times bank accounts, which are essential for investigations of financial crimes, may [formally] belong not to a suspected or accused person but to an individual linked to them,” Grigorian explained during a cabinet meeting.
“Furthermore, evidence which could allow the indictment of a person is often not accessible for law-enforcement bodies because they can only obtain financial data relating to individuals already accused or suspected of crimes,” he said.
Pashinian strongly defended the proposed easing of bank secrecy which will require parliamentary approval.
“There have been very long discussions on this topic in different formats,” he said. “There have been many concerns [regarding the bill.] But our political conclusion is as follows: either we fight against corruption or we don’t. A half struggle is not an option.”
Pashinian claimed that because of the existing rules for bank secrecy the authorities recently failed to stop a “high-ranking official or his son-in-law” from selling a dubiously acquired asset and “hiding the loot” abroad. He did not name those persons or disclose the asset.
“That property was formally registered in another person’s name and there are no legal questions about that other person,” said Pashinian. “That property was sold. We knew that that property will be sold and the money [paid for it] will be taken out of Armenia.”
The Central Bank of Armenia did not immediately comment on the bill. But an association representing the country’s commercial banks criticized it as a “step backwards.”
“The [Armenian] law on bank secrecy is considered a great achievement and has had a positive impact on the establishment and development of our banking system,” the Union of Armenian Banks said in written comments to RFE/RL’s Armenian service. “Any narrowing of the framework of that law would have a negative impact on the system, the consequences of which will be visible over time.”
Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigorian, who is a former banker, also voiced serious misgivings about the bill.
“There are two parties to a bank transfer [of cash,] and if we get information about the party that is suspicious for us doesn’t this mean that [investigators] will also automatically get information about the other [innocent] party?” Grigorian said during the cabinet session. “This is the most delicate and dangerous issue.”
“There is no such danger, Mr. Grigorian,” countered Prosecutor-General Artur Davtian. “The logic of the process of investigating crimes is completely different from what you said.”
Davtian argued that phone conversations legally wiretapped by law-enforcement bodies also frequently involve innocent individuals talking to criminal suspects. Pashinian backed this argument.
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