First amicable agreement in illegal property seizure case achieved in Armenia

YEREVAN, March 21. /ARKA/. A court in Armenia on Tuesday endorsed the first amicable agreement achieved in a case initiated by prosecutors to seize property of illegal origin, the press service of the Prosecutor General's Office reported.

It said the amicable agreement was signed on February 17, 2023 between the Prosecutor General's Office and citizen A.M.

Under the agreement citizen A.M. undertook to hand over to the state a real estate property valued over 81 million drams, located on Tsarav Aghbyur Street in Avan administrative district in the capital Yerevan.

According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, the amount constitutes 85.2% of the market value of the property of illegal origin.

The agreement was referred to the Anti-Corruption Court for final approval on February 20, 2023.

Mass media reports say that citizen A.M. is Artur Manukyan, ex-director of Technical Center-Academy of the Armenian Football Federation.

Under the law enacted by the Armenian government in 2020 prosecutors can seek asset forfeiture in case of having “sufficient grounds to suspect” that the market value of an individual’s properties exceeds their “legal income” by at least 50 million drams (more than $100,000). ($1 – 388.48 drams.). -0-