2018 July 24

Anti-Corruption Daily

Anti-Corruption 7/24/2018: 1) Taron Margaryan-linked office employee arrested for distributing bribes to help Margaryan get elected during the 2017 elections 2) Mihran Poghosyan's fruit importing companies paid AMD 600mln in damages 3) Education Ministry has already begun the fight ag.. (MORE BELOW)
by ar_david_hh

Disclaimer: All the accused are innocent until proven guilty by the court of law, even if they may sound as being guilty. Currency in Armenian Drams ֏ unless specified otherwise.

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What is Zibilix? Context: https://www.azatutyun.am/a/29307041.html

TLDR: A scandal happened last year during the Yerevan mayoral elections. An evidence of election fraud conducted by HHK's Taron Margaryan bloc was uncovered by the opposition Nikol Pashinyan, who was Taron's main opponent at the time. Pashinyan found documents in a trash bin (hence the name zibilix) in an electoral office which showed traces of fraud.

Today, the investigators arrested a woman linked to the events. Evidence is found that she distributed bribes to electorate to get Taron Margaryan elected https://www.a1plus.am/1633918.html

Prosecutors are conducting reforms with police departments in Shirak Province to improve the work that's being done for catching people who are wanted by the police. More professional records will be kept which will help to improve the efficiency. https://www.a1plus.am/1633877.html

An audit by the IRS has revealed that Catherin Group and few other fruit importing companies, associated with embattled HHK politician Mihran Poghosyan who was at the center of attention after Panama Papers revelations, have underpaid AMD 600mln in taxes. The damages were repaid and the criminal case was dropped. The IRS, however, recently found more damages caused to the state and has re-opened the criminal case https://www.a1plus.am/1633827.html ----------- http://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/142184

More details have been published about the transportation servicing companies that used government licenses but avoided paying taxes worth billions. Some of their names and the caused damage is now public https://www.a1plus.am/1633879.html

Food safety administration shuts down bread and sweets producing factories for ignoring hygiene regulations. Allows a third factory to operate after the director takes measures to address the issues https://www.a1plus.am/1633762.html

A judge had earlier ruled that the soccer federation had no right to take away points from Shirak FC after they were caught bribing the opponent player. The same judge releases another verdict annulling his previous verdict. Shirak FC will be penalized https://armenpress.am/arm/news/941685.html

First Deputy PM Mirzoyan discloses the staff's recent US travel costs: $9,400. During the visit, he spoke with Congressmen about new ways to aid Armenia since its economic rating has been improved recently and placed in the list of countries with "medium income", which would disqualify if from certain aid packages. Discussed business with company leaders. Dismisses "garbage news" about the visit being "pointless" or "waste of resources" https://factor.am/70334.html

Ejmiatsin city council revokes Manvel Grigoryan's honorary citizen title. In other news, as reported here earlier, the military vehicles in Manvel Grigoryan's garage were allegedly stolen not from the military, but from the donors who intended to send it to the military. The investigation shows that he registered them under his relatives' names https://www.a1plus.am/1633788.html

Some university students are complaining about failing the exams and missing the diplomas, after universities toughen the rules to improve the quality. The Education Ministry has begun the fight against skipping the classes then purchasing diplomas in the end. The ministry will also monitor the attendance more closely https://youtu.be/_VJPX0c82j8?t=255

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People in Armenia have suddenly decided to watch lots of videos on the internet, says UCOM. The traffic has skyrocketed, going from 90Gbps pre-April to 260Gbps post-April, during peak times. http://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/142175

You can file a complaint, track complaint progress or request information from the RA government at a unified informational platform at https://www.e-request.am/hy/

Deputy Prime Minister of RA, City Council of Los Angeles and the University of Southern California announce an internship program for Yerevan municipality employees. The staff will be able to get experience in LA and receive studies at the USC https://armenpress.am/arm/news/941714.html

Serj's bodyguard pays the AMD 1bln bond and is allowed to leave the jail while the trial continues. https://www.a1plus.am/1633838.html

Deaths in Artsakh army have gone down by 40% http://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/142167

A DJ from Azerbaijan is arrested and sentenced to 10 days for playing an Armenian music, and resisting an arrest after the locals called the police on him https://www.radioaurora.am/novosti/2018-07-24-adrbejantsi-dj-y-dzerbakalvel-e-haykakan-erg-miatsnelu-hamar.html

(editor: does anyone know which song it was?)

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Link to original report and comments: https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/91mk07/anticorruption_7242018_1_taron_margaryanlinked/