Armenia’s Investigative Committee raided the Ministry of Economy building in Yerevan and conducted searches there together with the National Security Service (NSS). In a statement issued afterwards, the committee said that seven individuals were taken into custody in two criminal investigations conducted by both law-enforcement agencies.
In particular, the statement said, unnamed ministry officials illegally disqualified a private entity from a procurement tender to make sure that it is won by another bidder that charged a much higher sum. Ani Ispirian, who was sacked as deputy economy minister the night before her arrest, is understood to have been indicted in this criminal case.
The other case involves a ministry official, also not identified by the Investigative Committee, who allegedly abused his or her position to help other individuals receive government funding for an agribusiness project in violation of rules set by the ministry.
Speaking to reporters, Kerobian pointed out that the investigators have not accused the suspects of taking bribes or embezzling public funds.
“Therefore, I need an additional clarification of what they mean by abuse [of power,]” he said. “The biding process was constantly under the control of lawyers, other partners, including the Ministry of Finance, and we are more than sure that both the court and the investigation will conclude that there was no violation of procurement and related laws.”
It was still not clear whether Ispirian and other arrested ministry officials also deny the accusations.
It emerged, meanwhile, that other suspects in the case include Ashot Hovanesian, the founder of the software development company Synergy International Systems which is registered in the United States but mainly operates from Armenia. A Yerevan court on Thursday formally remanded Hovanesian in pre-trial custody.
Another arrested suspect, Ani Gevorgian, is the wife of Armenian parliament speaker Alen Simonian’s brother Karlen. Simonian is a key political ally of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.