Former head of State Social Welfare Service arrested in Armenia

Vazgen Khachikyan, the former head of the State Social Security Service, was arrested. This was reported today by the police's press service.

Let us remind you that in November 2010, the Control Chamber revealed serious abuses in work of the State Social Security Service, which at the time was headed by Vazgen Khachikyan: large theft was revealed. According to unofficial information, annual embezzlement of several million US dollars from the state budget was revealed. On December 18, 2010, Vazgen Khachikyan was dismissed from his position.

According to the press service of the Armenian police, Vazgen Khachikyan is suspected of committing a crime under Part 3 of Article 179 (theft on a large scale), Part 3 of Article 178 (fraud on a large scale), and Article 314 (mediation in bribing) of the Criminal Code.

Apart from Vazgen Khachikyan, two other persons were arrested: Ovannes Grigoryan, the former head of the Payment Division of the Social Welfare Service, and Ashot Abraamyan, the head of Pension Provision Department.

Earlier, the former head of the Social Welfare Service stated that he was not involved in machinations with the pension money. "Talks about the facts that during my leadership, several million US dollars were embezzled annually from state budget are meaningless. In our country, there are more than 500,000 pensioners, and there thousands of social workers, who serve them, and I am the only one. How can I supervise all issues?" Vazgen Khachikyan has stated.