2020 June 14

Anti-Corruption Daily

Jun/14/2020 News: (1) BHK leader Gagik Tsarukyan accused of casino fraud, land fraud, voter buying. Dozens of raids and confiscations. (2) Workers claim they're pressured to attend a protest to support Tsarukyan (3) Allegations and counter-arguments about "persecution" (4) Tsarukyan's immunity as MP
by ar_david_hh

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NSS reveals felony investigations against BHK chief Tsarukyan

Gago's problems with law

BHK leader Dodi Gago's (Gagik Tsarukyan) businesses have been at the center of numerous investigations post-2018 revolution.

In 2018 we learned about his right-hand man's alleged multi-billion fraud involving North-South freeway construction.

On Apr/29/2019 we learned about a 0.5bln alleged tax evasion by his tramway operations in Tsakhkadzor.

In May/4/2020 the authorities accused his right-hand man Arustamyan of paying $22mln bribe to HHK regime to give his businesses a pass on certain things.

In May/6//2020 his casino Shangri La was accused of financial violations by the regulations. He agreed to "fix" it.

There was at least one major construction-related felony case in Yerevan. Etc.

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In June/8/2020 Gago launched a sharp attack against Pashinyan administration and vowed to unify the opposition. Pashinyan's office referred to it as an attempt by Gago to make noise because he knows there are serious criminal investigations against him.

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Today the NSS revealed the investigations against Gago.

One of them is about voter buying. Simultaneously, a screenshot of a document was leaking allegedly showing a payment scheme in Gegharquniq Province. Names and positions are listed. 2k to transport the voter, 10k for voters, dozens of millions for local activists, etc.

BHK says the screenshot was Photoshopped and is fake. NSS says they confiscated several PCs and documents regarding this case.

NSS says:

Several BHK members carried out a plan to commit voter fraud involving 100s of millions of AMD, some disguised as an aid for students and others.

Over 40 raids were carried out. PCs and documents were confiscated.

It's about April/2/2017 Parliamentary elections in which Gago's BHK got 28%. Party admins were also involved. End of report.

BHK MP Naira: they detained our entire crew in the Gegharquniq office and confiscated every computer and phone from all family members.

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Casino shenanigans

NSS report says: Gago's casino chain defrauded the state of 30bln, and caused another 40bln in lost investments between 2011-2014. They abused a specific law to fabricate documents to gain a right to do businesses in multiple locations and for other personal benefits.

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Another felony about property abuse.

NSS report says:

Arinj city officials illegally legalized properties built on agricultural lands, by forging docs to claim the 7.5ha lands were for industrial use. Other laws were broken. The beneficiary was Gago's Nyu LLC. ~350mln in damages to the state.

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Gago will go to NSS to testify.

He said he won't back down, calling it an illegal pressure and persecution. He criticized govt's handling of economy and pandemic.

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Supporters gather.

Workers from Gago's several businesses gathered in front of his mansion and the NSS office to show support.

The police are trying to make sure the crowd respects COVID safety. They warned the crowd against over-crowding.

Eventually, >100 protesters were arrested after shutting down a nearby street and continuing the gathering. Among them were Gago's business directors.

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Observers.

Informed Citizens NGO chief says the police actions against protesters were lawful.

NGO boss: "Recently we noticed that people, who learn through leaks about upcoming criminal cases against them, choose to ramp up their political activities so later they can claim to be a victim of political persecution."

"We've long complained about voter-fraud-like activities by BHK, some of which were happening blatantly in front of cameras. This case looks like the Zibilix case [in which several HHK members plead guilty/convicted of voter fraud]."

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Pressured to join protests.

There are several reports that Gago's businesses are pressuring workers to go join the protests. Gago's Arinj Mall workers say the Mall's deputy director and Yerevan councilman Armen Nersisyan is behind it. Armen Nersisyan denied, saying he has an alibi.

Arinj Mall was closed today. The workers and contractors couldn't open their booths for sales.

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A rare incident.

Professional protester Vardges Gaspari (laying on the ground guy) came to support the police and authorities. He supports "criminals being raided".

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The interrogation is over.

After testifying for 10 hours at the NSS facility, Gago finally exited the building. He's not arrested, at least not for now due to immunity.

Gago referred to the situation as political persecution because he claims it was a response to his last week's sharp rhetoric against Pashinyan. (SIMP mentality right here)

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Stripping the immunity.

General Prosecutor's office might ask the Parliament to strip Gago's immunity so he can be charged and arrested, "if enough evidence is revealed". They dismissed BHK's allegations that it's political persecution.

QP will hold a meeting tomorrow to decide whether to strip his immunity.

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QP and BHK members respond.

QP MP Kristine: 10 days from now, when the COVID numbers spike, BHK will accuse the govt of failing the fight. [referring to today's gathering].

The length of NSS's document against Gago shows how large this investigation was, therefore it must have started a long time ago. BHK's claim that this was a response to Gago's last week's activation makes no sense.

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BHK Naira: this is the beginning of the end for this govt, and the end will come quick. Complete disregard for personal life. More fabrications and persecutions. Nothing will silence us.

To those QP MPs who'll vote on stripping Gago of immunity, I want them to remember that tomorrow there may come a time for them to be held accountable for their actions.

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Not just Gago.

ex-BHK MP Ishkhan Zakarayan also testified for 4 hours as part of the voter fraud case. NSS says he reveled some info. He's a semi-suspect.

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Source

Casino https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/190182

Voter buying doc https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/190180

NSS voter fraud https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/190185

Gago testify https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/190183

Vardges Gaspari https://youtu.be/arn_2YJBY28

Gago's protesters https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/190184 ; https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/190186 ; https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/190187 ; https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/190189 ; https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/190190 ; https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/190191 ; https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/190198 ;

Arinj mall https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/190178

Arinj property https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/190193

Ishkhan Zakaryan https://factor.am/259836.html

COVID and protesters, QP MP https://factor.am/259857.html

Prosecutors' petition https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/190196

Arinj mall report https://factor.am/259673.html

BHK Naira https://factor.am/259814.html

Gegharquniq arrests https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/190205

Gago exits https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/190207

NGO https://factor.am/259868.html

Tags: #DodiGago #Tsarukyan #GagikTsarukyan

COVID stats

+663 infected. +133 healed. +5 deaths.

10093 active. 6214 healed. 269 deaths. 82324 tested.

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+10 infected in Artsakh. 54 healed. 91 quarantined. 0 deaths.

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/190181

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/190138

Azeri hackers

... allegedly leaked personal info of 3,500 COVID patients, according to media. NSS is investigating to find the true perpetrators.

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/190162

COVID briefing / Hotspots revealed

Pashinyan said:

We did unprecedented 1444 tests and recorded an unprecedented high number of infections yesterday.

The 10k penalties for violating COVID safety won't be waived, despite internet rumors.

COVID mostly spreads in backyards and gazebos. We know this by examining the proximity of infections. Police ramped up the enforcement.

Thanks everyone who's been following safety. A pair of volunteers currently travel around and urge the public to wear masks. Maybe could offer masks to people.

Full: https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/190164

French doctors have arrived

...at Zvartnots airport. They'll volunteer against COVID.

https://youtu.be/KBMFxvYTvlw?t=468

Minister's car incident

Healthcare Minister was driving to work when he hit a 10yo child "while going at a slow speed. I took him to the hospital. He had a scratch on his hand. No danger to life. The police are investigating."

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/190150

Legendary sports news

Legendary 32yo soccer player Edgar Manucharyan, an ex-Ajax player, is retiring from the Armenian national team.

👏👏👏 https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1018423.html

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Legendary soccer star Henrikh Mkhitaryan is close to finalizing his Roma transfer. Arsenal wants to give $20mln + Henrikh in exchange for receiving a specific player from Roma. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1018410.html

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As predicted, legendary grandmaster Levon Aronyan lost the St. Louis CLUTCH tournament to no less legendary Magnus Carlsen with a 6:12 score. He won't proceed to Finale. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1018354.html

Karmir Blur historic sight's cleanup

Yerevan municipality official: since 2019 we've done 1000 truck trips to remove construction debris from Red Hill. Another 250 and we'll finish the cleanup of one of our history's oldest sights.

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/190160

What did he mean by this? 🤔🤔🤔

https://www.reddit.com/r/arMEMEia/comments/h8ijla/tfw_you_open_rarmenia_at_1230_pm_pacific_time/

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Link to original report and comments: https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/h92fe1/jun142020_news_1_bhk_leader_gagik_tsarukyan/

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. Helpful overview of Armenia's media ownership and leanings.