Epress.am News from Armenia
Yesterday evening Armenian law enforcement carried out arrests at the country's Defense Ministry, catching once again only “small and medium-sized fish,” as reported by Zhoghovurd local newspaper.
“According to our sources, among those arrested were Major General Mels Chilingaryan – head of the RA Armed Forces Armament Department; Colonel Davit Abrahamyan – head of the RA Armed Forces Armament department motor service unit, and Colonel Mher Papyan, whose exact position we were unable to establish yesterday,” the paper writes.
In an interview with Aravot.am, Sona Truzyan, an adviser to the chairman of the Armenian Investigative Committee, confirmed the arrests. “I can officially confirm that three persons were arrested last night – General Mels Chilingaryan, Colonels Mher Papyan and Armen Margaryan. The arrests were made as part of two different criminal cases related to procurement of defective goods, in some cases – at exorbitant prices,” Truzyan said.
According to Aravot.am, however, Davit Abrahamyan was not among those arrested. The Investigative Committee had reported earlier that Abrahamyan had been accused of abusing his power “which caused materially grave consequences.”
“Colonel D. Abrahamyan, having been involved in a standing commission of the Armament department, abused his power out of mercenary motives and organized reception of tools and equipment which did not comply with technical characteristics envisaged by contracts,” the law enforcement agency had said.