More Than $15 Million Confiscated in Illicit Asset Cases, Prosecutor General’s Office Says

YEREVAN — More than $15 million has been confiscated in cases involving assets of allegedly illegal origin, Armenia’s Prosecutor General’s Office told Azatutyun.

“Since the adoption of the Law on Confiscation of Property of Illegal Origin, 11 settlement agreements have been concluded. As a result of those agreements, eight pieces of real estate and two movable assets have been transferred to the Republic of Armenia. The total monetary value of the assets and funds transferred under the agreements amounts to 5.552 billion drams, or more than $15 million,” the Prosecutor General’s Office said.

According to figures presented in March by Prosecutor General Anna Vardapetyan, 166 such lawsuits were pending before Armenian courts, with a combined value of approximately 612.6 billion drams, or more than $1.5 billion.

The Ministry of Justice has announced plans to amend the Law on Confiscation of Property of Illegal Origin. Among the proposed changes is the removal of the provision allowing settlement agreements.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had earlier spoken in favor of eliminating that provision, saying he had instructed officials to remove the mechanism from the law.