Armenia’s NSS to interrogate deputy head of State Revenue Committee
04.06.2018,
16:30
Chief of Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) Artur Vanetsyan told reporters today that the deputy head of the State Revenues Committee (SRC) Rafik Mashadyan will be interrogated by NSS officers as part of an NSS investigation into a corruption case involving supermarkets.
YEREVAN, June 4. /ARKA/ Chief of Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) Artur Vanetsyan told reporters today that the deputy head of the State Revenues Committee (SRC) Rafik Mashadyan will be interrogated by NSS officers as part of an NSS investigation into a corruption case involving supermarkets.
On May 30, Armenia’s National Security Service said it exposed a tax scam used by Alex Holding, controlled by MP from the Republican Party of Armenia Samvel Alexanyan, accusing it of colluding with the former leadership of the State Revenue Committee (SRC) to run a scam in Yerevan City supermarkets to avoid payment of 7.2 billion drams ($15 million) in VAT since the end of 2016.
In a statement NSS said Alex Holding set up 461 small firms, the bulk registered in the name of its employees and their family members, to sell agricultural products and many other items at Yerevan City supermarkets. It some of those employees were not even aware of that.
Under Armenian law, small firms with an annual turnover of up to 115 million drams ($237,000) are exempt from profit and value-added (VAT) taxes. Instead, they are required to pay “turnover tax” equivalent to 2 percent of their revenue. The VAT rate in Armenia is set at 20 percent.
"Mashadyan will be invited to the National Security Service as a witness and he will give evidence and after assessing his testimony, his further status in the criminal case will be decided," Vanetsyan said. According to him, the fact that Mashadyan was only recently appointed to this post does not mean his inviolability, since he has worked for a long time in this structure.
The National Security Council of Armenia had earlier arrested three senior executives of Norfolk Consulting customs brokerage firm, accusing the firm of failing to pay millions of dollars in taxes and customs duties. According to n NSS, Norfolk Consulting was set up in 2017 June and was given exclusive rights to process commercial cargo from China, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey, having driven nine other customs brokerage firms handling those imports out of business.
The NSS said Norfolk enjoyed a “special privileged status” with the help of senior officials from the State Revenue Committee. The NSS charged that Norfolk may have since earned $7 million in “illegal revenue” by helping importers evade or underpay taxes. -0-
On May 30, Armenia’s National Security Service said it exposed a tax scam used by Alex Holding, controlled by MP from the Republican Party of Armenia Samvel Alexanyan, accusing it of colluding with the former leadership of the State Revenue Committee (SRC) to run a scam in Yerevan City supermarkets to avoid payment of 7.2 billion drams ($15 million) in VAT since the end of 2016.
In a statement NSS said Alex Holding set up 461 small firms, the bulk registered in the name of its employees and their family members, to sell agricultural products and many other items at Yerevan City supermarkets. It some of those employees were not even aware of that.
Under Armenian law, small firms with an annual turnover of up to 115 million drams ($237,000) are exempt from profit and value-added (VAT) taxes. Instead, they are required to pay “turnover tax” equivalent to 2 percent of their revenue. The VAT rate in Armenia is set at 20 percent.
"Mashadyan will be invited to the National Security Service as a witness and he will give evidence and after assessing his testimony, his further status in the criminal case will be decided," Vanetsyan said. According to him, the fact that Mashadyan was only recently appointed to this post does not mean his inviolability, since he has worked for a long time in this structure.
The National Security Council of Armenia had earlier arrested three senior executives of Norfolk Consulting customs brokerage firm, accusing the firm of failing to pay millions of dollars in taxes and customs duties. According to n NSS, Norfolk Consulting was set up in 2017 June and was given exclusive rights to process commercial cargo from China, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey, having driven nine other customs brokerage firms handling those imports out of business.
The NSS said Norfolk enjoyed a “special privileged status” with the help of senior officials from the State Revenue Committee. The NSS charged that Norfolk may have since earned $7 million in “illegal revenue” by helping importers evade or underpay taxes. -0-
