WIDESPREAD FRAUD IN PAYMENT OF STATE PENSIONS HANDLED BY LARGE GROUP OF INVESTIGATORS
/ ARKA /
August 24, 2011
YEREVAN
Armenia’s prosecutor general, Aghvan Hovsepian, said today the inquiry
into a widespread fraud, embezzlement of public funds and abuse of
power in the payment of state pensions and benefits is being handled
by a large group of investigators.
The widespread fraud was revealed by the parliament’s Audit Chamber
last year. Its head, Ishkhan Zakarian, said thousands of Armenian
pensioners received, on paper, pensions years after their death. He
implied that this money had been pocketed by officials from the State
Social Security Service.
Aghvan Hovsepian said today three criminal cases were opened into
these abuses which were later consolidated into one case. The
violations were reported to president of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan,
who told prime minister Tigran Sarkisian to fire head of the State
Social Security Fund Vazgen Khachikyan. In a subsequent probing the
prosecutors estimated that some 113 million drams had been pocketed
by officials from the State Social Security Fund in 2009-2010. The
embezzled sum has been calculated on the basis of materials examined
by investigators. The investigation is continuing.” ($ 1 – 367.62
AMD).
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Disclaimer: This article was contributed and translated into English by Emil Lazarian. While we strive for quality, the views and accuracy of the content remain the responsibility of the contributor. Please verify all facts independently before reposting or citing.
Direct link to this article: https://www.armenianclub.com/2011/08/25/widespread-fraud-in-payment-of-state-pensions-handled-by-large-group/
