ArmInfo. The State Revenue Committee of Armenia has identified cases of particularly large tax violations, resulting in damages to the state totaling over 2.1 billion drams.
According to the agency's press service, the SRC received operational information indicating that during the construction of a large sports complex in Yerevan, the construction materials used, construction work performed, and services received may have been incompletely documented, resulting in understated tax liabilities to the state budget. A series of investigative measures were carried out. The company's accounting and initial accounting documentation, legal grounds related to the construction, fixed asset accounting, and information available in the tax authority's databases were reviewed. A comparison of the actual data revealed a circumstance that became key to the further investigation. It was discovered that the cost of construction work, services, and materials for the construction of a sports complex with a total area of approximately 10,500 square meters was only estimated at approximately 665 million drams in the 2013-2015 calculations. However, the sports complex itself was subsequently assessed by an independent appraiser as a non-cash contribution from the founder worth over 20 billion drams. The multi-billion-dollar discrepancy between the stated construction cost and the estimated value of the completed facility became a key focus of the operational investigation. An analysis of the obtained factual data led to reasonable suspicions that a significant portion of the construction materials used, construction work performed, and services performed during the construction of the sports complex may have been acquired without being reflected in the relevant calculations in the manner prescribed by law and without being reflected in the company's accounting and tax reporting. These assets were subsequently registered as a non-cash contribution by the founder and included in the company's authorized capital.
During the investigative process, discrepancies in the accounting of fixed assets were also recorded. Specifically, some assets with a total book value of approximately 614 million drams were not found at the site, and documents confirming their write-off or damage were not provided. According to preliminary data, the damage caused to the state as a result of this circumstance amounted to approximately 102 million drams. Thus, the obtained factual data gives reason to believe that the possible damage caused to the state exceeds 2 billion 107 million drams. Based on this factual data, a crime report was sent to the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Armenia, a criminal case was opened, and a preliminary investigation is underway.
