Preliminary investigation of the criminal proceeding regarding the importation and sale of vehicles into the Republic of Armenia by a criminal organization, through the use of forged documents and the falsification of vehicle identification elements, circumventing the applicable customs procedures for taxable goods subject to customs control at the customs border of the Republic of Armenia, and evasion of customs duties in particularly large amount totaling 1 billion 213 million 26 thousand AMD, was completed in General Department on Special Assignments of the RA Investigative Committee.

Through preliminary investigation it was established that H.V., A.M., S.Sh., L.Ye. and B.K. created a criminal organization and as its members recruited A.M., H.G., A.D., S.A. and H.S. for illegal importation and sale of vehicles from the Republic of Georgia into the Republic of Armenia by circumventing the customs procedures prescribed by law, developing a clearly structured criminal mechanism with a defined distribution of roles for the unhindered implementation of their illicit activities.

Particularly, the members of the group, on the basis of forged powers of attorney allegedly issued to them by citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan who had purchased vehicles in the Republic of Armenia during 2018–2020, submitted forged applications on various dates between 2023 and 2025 to the registration and examination units of the RA Ministry of Internal Affairs, claiming that the registration plates and registration certificates of the vehicles purchased by the Kazakh citizens had been lost, and subsequently obtained replacement registration plates and registration certificates.

Subsequently, the members of the criminal organization purchased in Georgia vehicles corresponding to the makes, years of manufacture, and colors specified in the registration certificates. In the neutral zones of the Georgian-Armenian and Georgian-Russian interstate borders, they removed the vehicles’ identification numbers and replaced them with the forged identification numbers and registration plates indicated in the registration certificates in their possession. They then crossed the Georgian-Armenian state border in those vehicles, thereby creating the false impression that the vehicles purchased in 2018–2020 and exported from Kazakhstan had entered the Republic of Armenia.

By the supervising prosecutor’s decision public criminal prosecution was initiated against 10 individuals for creating a criminal organization, participating in it, using forged documents, falsifying vehicle identification elements and evading customs duties in particularly large amount totaling 1 billion 213 million 26 thousand AMD.

Home detention was applied as a pretrial measure against 2 of them, administrative supervision - against 3, absence ban was applied as a pretrial measure against the others. 

Ban was imposed to the property of 5 defendants, 218 vehicles were found as material evidence.

The criminal proceeding with the bill of indictment was referred to the supervising prosecutor.