ArmInfo. Aram Harutyunyan, former Minister of Nature Protection, MP from the Republican Party faction (popularly known by the nickname "Bulki Aram"), does not have a procedural status in the case of a bribe given by entrepreneur Silva Hambartsumyan with a view to obtaining a license to operate mines in 2008.
According to Khachatryan, the criminal case is being considered by the SIS. However, despite the rumors circulated in the media, Aram Harutyunyan is not a person involved in this case. "He does not have any procedural status within the framework of the case," Khachatryan said.
To recall, recently Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced a loud corruption revelation that is connected with one of the MPs. He did not mention the name of the MP, saying only that it is the largest corruption case in the history of independent Armenia.
Armenian businesswoman Silva Hambardzumian claims that in 2008 she gave a $14 million bribe to the then environment minister and current lawmaker Aram Harutiunian to obtain a mine development license. "I transferred $8 million to a bank account in Dubai that he mentioned to me and paid another $6 million by installments through a person whose name was Suren Avagian," Hambardzumian told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). "I had contacts with Aram Harutiunian since 2007 and bought three organizations from him. Then, when I mentioned my intention to buy several mines, I was told that others had offered bribes for that. I asked to quote the amount I should pay and he said it was $14 million. He gave the bank account number of another person named Araks Dilanian and on February 2, 2008 I transferred that money," the entrepreneur claimed. Hambardzumian said that she received a license after allegedly giving the bribe, but soon afterwards that license was suspended. She said she demanded that Harutiunian return the money and he promised to provide real estate instead, but eventually did not keep his promise. "He told me I could do anything, but would get nothing. After that meeting I went straight to the 6th police department [combating organized crime] and reported the crime," she said. Hambardzumian claimed that Araks Dilanian, to whom she paid the money by installments, transferred it to the Dubai bank accounts of three Armenian citizens. "One of those citizens is Gagik Karapetian, the director of the Sevan Psychiatric Hospital, another is his worker Viktor Martirosian, and I didn't know the third one. After I received those papers it turned out that the third person was Armen Khachatrian, who is the director of property owned by Aram Harutiunian." The director of the Sevan Psychiatric Hospital, however, denied that he was involved in the case. "I don't know such a person. Please do not call me over that matter, do not disturb me," he told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). Attempts by RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) to contact MP Aram Harutiunian were not successful throughout the day. The lawmaker affiliated with the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia did not even attend the National Assembly session today. Asked whether she acknowledged that giving a bribe is also a criminal offense, Hambardzumian said that it wasnt in 2008. "I think and have always thought that giving a bribe should be punishable, but since there was no way of dealing with the former government otherwise, since it was impossible to do any business without giving a bribe, I guess many people like me had to do so," she said. She also stated that earlier the case was closed on the instruction of Serzh Sargsyan's administration office.