Cases of receiving bribes and official forgery by officials of the RA SATM were revealed, as well as cases of illegal payment of 8,000 US dollars.
This was reported by the RA Anti-Corruption Committee: "The criminal proceedings initiated on the basis of the measures carried out by the RA Anti-Corruption Committee's Operative-Investigative Department revealed that the officials of the RA Food Safety Inspection Authority (SATM) received bribes in return for not registering the violations found in the export process of animals and commit fraud.
During the preliminary investigation of the criminal proceedings, other crimes of a corruption nature were also revealed, including cases of illegal payment of USD 8,000.
In particular, it was found that U. J. initiated the process of exporting cattle in September-October 2024, within the scope of which, however, there were significant gaps. Thus, in the application submitted to the competent state body to start the 21-day quarantine of animals before export and to control it, 580 animals were mentioned as the number of exports, but 345 animals were actually quarantined.
In addition, regarding 50 of the animals, the veterinary Form 1 certificate for the transportation of animals to the quarantine point was not available. S. and V. During one of the visits made by G. to the relevant quarantine point in October 2024, the above-mentioned violations were discovered, but in exchange for not recording them, U. They received AMD 190,000 in bribes from J. Moreover, V. A false certificate was made by G. that there are 574 animals at the quarantine point and Form 1 certificate is available.
The said fake certificate was then put into official circulation and the export of the consignment of animals was authorized on the basis of it.
In the future, to obtain a certificate with false content and veterinary certificate Form 1 regarding the presence of insufficient number of animals, U. J. turned to the veterinarian of the Armavir municipality, A. D., who, under the pretext of bribery, used U. He informed J. that he allegedly reached an agreement with an official of the local self-government body of Armavir region to provide the required false documents in exchange for a bribe of AMD 50,000.
U. J. accepted that offer, after which A. D. turned to his son, veterinarian G. To D., for issue of Form 1 certificate.
The fake document prepared by the son A. D. transferred to U. J. and received the requested AMD 50,000 from him, which he did not transfer to any official, but managed personally.
In addition, the preliminary examination revealed that in order to avoid possible obstacles in the export process, U. J. turned to his acquaintance L. S., who expressed his willingness to ensure the granting of export permits by SATM in exchange for an illegal payment of 8,000 USD. J was able to export the consignment of animals on October 18, 2024, and on the same day, he paid L. to S.
6 persons were charged with the relevant articles of the RA Criminal Code for committing the above-mentioned criminal acts: SATM inspectors V. To G., Sh. To S., veterinarians A. To D., G. D., as well as U. J. and L. to S.
The preliminary investigation in the criminal proceedings has been completed. The indictment has been approved by the prosecutor, and the materials of the proceedings have been sent to the court for consideration.
