The National Security Service of RA, carrying out a consistent and uncompromising fight against various manifestations of corruption, as well as being faithful to the adopted policy of eliminating these manifestations, as a result of operational and search measures and investigative activities undertaken within the functions, vested upon it by the law, aimed at countering corruption,  detected another apparent case of receiving a bribe by an official of the Medical and Social Expert Agency of RA.

According to the received factual data, the chairperson of one of the Committees of the RA Medical and Social Expert Agency of the staff of the RA Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, being entrusted with organizational and management authorities while carrying out an expert examination and being an official under the RA Law on Public Service, with the violation of the bans stipulated by the noted law, having reached a prior agreement with two other members of the same committee, in order to make favorable decisions – i.e. declaring disabled, specifying the duration, changing the disability group – for the citizens who applied for an expert examination, for a long time, with a single intention,  received money, from AMD 20.000 to AMD 100.000, as a bribe and gave a share from that money to the members of the committee.

In particular, only during March of 2020, in his office he received, in parts, a bribe in large amounts - AMD 300.000 in total - from 6 individuals who applied for expert examination.

Due to the existence of irrefutable evidence, on 23 March 2020, the chairperson of the mentioned committee was caught by the NSS officers, while once again (under the operational control of the officers of operational subdivisions of the RA NSS) personally receiving a bribe in his office; after being caught he was brought in.  As a result of the search, the bribe was found and seized; the bribers confessed to committing a crime.

In the criminal case -initiated, according to the corresponding articles of the criminal code of RA, in the Investigation Department of the NSS of RA  - the official who received a bribe has been detained.

Preliminary investigation goes on; relevant measures are being taken to detect other criminal episodes of receiving a bribe, as well as to detect and prosecute the persons involved in the corruption chain.

Note: The suspect or accused of an alleged crime is considered innocent as long as his/her guilt is not proven in a manner prescribed by the Code of Criminal Procedure of RA - by the court decision entered into legal force.