Armenia to expand list of persons whose property can be checked for legality of acquisition

YEREVAN, May 5. /ARKA/. The Armenian government has approved today a set of amendments and additions to the law on confiscation of property of illegal origin.

The amendments expand the circle of people in respect of whom an investigation can be launched to find out the legality of acquired property. They also establish that investigation may last 3 years and give the Prosecutor's Office the right to initiate such investigations on its own initiative.

The amendments also provide for possibility of confiscation of an amount equal to the value of property purchased abroad in case there is no information on its market value.

The amendments provide for an expansion of the definition of "official": it will be extended to officials who are required to submit asset declarations.

The law on seizure of illegally acquired property was approved by the parliament of Armenia in April 2020. It allows authorities to confiscate private properties and other assets deemed to have been acquired illegally. 

More precisely, the law allows prosecutors to investigate individuals in case of having “sufficient grounds to suspect” that the market value of their assets exceeds their “legal incomes” by at least 50 million drams ($103,000

If such discrepancies are found prosecutors can ask courts to nationalize those assets even if their owners are not found guilty of corruption or other criminal offenses.-0-