Local Armenian officials detained in corruption probe

Around a dozen employees of the Vanadzor municipality were detained on Thursday as part of an ongoing corruption investigation, the Armenian Anti-Corruption Committee said, without specifying the exact number of detainees or the charges involved.

According to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service, law enforcement officers took in 11 staff members from the municipality’s Property Management and Revenue Collection Department in a criminal case opened in 2023. Former department head Armen Ayvazyan was also detained from his home earlier in the day.

The authorities said further details on the legal status of those detained would be provided later.

Investigators searched the department led by Ayvazyan more than two years ago, detaining him and several subordinates in connection with suspected irregularities in the leasing of municipally owned land. No formal charges had been filed in that case to date.

Ayvazyan was separately charged in a bribery case late last year. He was detained and later released before submitting resignation. Acting mayor Arkadi Peleshyan subsequently appointed Ayvazyan’s wife, Lilit Hovsepyan, to the post. She declined to comment on the matter.