A preliminary investigation conducted as part of a criminal case being handled by the RA Anti-Corruption Committee revealed that one of the forest rangers at the Ijevan branch of the Hayantar NGO, along with a forester, used influence exerted by officials to bribe individuals to refrain from illegal activities and regularly received bribes from them in exchange for unimpeded illegal logging. This was reported to us by the Anti-Corruption Committee.
Specifically, the preliminary investigation revealed that in October 2023, the aforementioned forester demanded a bribe of 105,000 drams in exchange for failing to register illegal logging carried out by two individuals, with the intent of transferring part of this amount to the forester. Additionally, another case of bribery by a forestry chief and a forester for illegal logging during the same period was uncovered.
During the criminal investigation, it was also revealed that the aforementioned forestry chief abused his official authority and the associated influence to the detriment of state interests and, while in office, failed to record logging carried out by others in the forest area, so that they would not report illegal logging organized by him to law enforcement.
The forestry chief of the Ijevan branch of the “Hayantar” NGO has been charged under Article 435, Part 2, Clauses 1 and 3 (two counts) and Article 441, Part 1 of the RA Criminal Code. Three more individuals, including the forester himself, have also been charged.
The preliminary investigation of the criminal case has been completed, and the case materials have been sent to the supervisory authority along with the indictment with a request to approve it and forward it to court.
The preliminary investigation also revealed other cases of bribery by the aforementioned officials of the Ijevan forestry department, the investigation of which is ongoing.