The former head of the Kazakh community, Ara Mkrtchyan, and five other former officials of the local self-government body were arrested. Law enforcers accuse them of illegally expropriating community lands with a total value of around 228 million drams through fake auctions.

According to the Armenian Investigative Committee, Ara Mkrtchyan, who led the community in 1996-2021, and who is also a former deputy of the “I have honor” faction of the National Assembly Anna Mkrtchyan is the father, he acted with prior agreement with other members of the staff. According to the materials of the proceedings, the key role in the criminal scheme was played by Mkrtchyan’s nephew, who held the position of the secretary of the municipal administration, as well as other members of the auction committee.

According to the main department of investigation of especially important cases of the Central Committee, during the years 2016-2019, the officials made false documents regarding the auctions that did not take place. On the basis of that fabricated paperwork, 28 units of communally-owned settlements and agricultural plots were formally expropriated from persons who were declared winners in the auctions.

The investigative body emphasizes that with these illegal actions, the community was deprived of the real possibility of legal management of the property it owns and of expropriating them in accordance with the letter of the law, as a result of which Kasakh suffered a particularly large amount of damage.

Currently, a public criminal prosecution has been initiated against Ara Mkrtchyan and five other former employees of the municipal administration with 28 counts under the articles of the former Criminal Code of abuse of authority and forgery. All six extras have been arrested, and the pre-investigative body will apply to the court with a motion to choose detention as a preventive measure against them.

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