As a result of complex operative-search measures and procedural actions carried out by officers of the Main Directorate of Counterintelligence and the Main Directorate of Investigation of the RA National Security Service, another case of organization of illegal migration was detected.

In particular, as a result of the evidentiary and other procedural actions carried out, it was established that a resident of Yerevan city A.M. and director of “Progressive Knowledge” LLC R.M., as part of a group by prior conspiracy, for mercenary reasons, complementing each other’s actions during February-April 2023 with the aim of organizing illegal migration of the RA citizens G.S. and R.P., namely, obtaining permission to enter and stay in the US, demanded and received from each of them 15.000 USD.

Then, in order to obtain proper permission to enter and stay in the USA, in the intended packages with documents they included fake certificates of employment and salary, as well as diplomas and certificates of graduation and qualifications that have legal significance, certifying facts and providing rights, that were transferred to the above mentioned persons, who in turn provided them to the competent authority operating on the territory of the Republic of Armenia.

During the preliminary investigation, searches were carried out at the residence addresses of R.M., A.M., as well as persons using the services of the latter and the place of work being a tourist organization, as a result of which fake diplomas and fake certificates of employment were discovered and seized and the amount of wages, as well as about graduation from an educational institution, bank account statements, stamps, computers, mobile phones, marriage and birth certificates, blank certificates with a seal, diplomas, passports that contained entry visas to the Schengen countries, many documents about various persons and other objects and things intended for the commission of the crime.

Based on the factual data obtained, at the request of the investigator, decisions were made by the supervising prosecutor to initiate public criminal prosecution against A.M. and R.M. According to the relevant articles of the RA Criminal Code, detention was chosen as a measure o restraint against them.

The preliminary investigation into criminal proceedings continues, the necessary investigative actions and operative-search measures are being taken to identify all the circumstances of the case and the full range of persons involved in the criminal group and to apply criminal legal measures against them.

The RA National Security Service urges the RA citizens, when traveling abroad and upon returning, to refrain from involvement in the processes of illegal migration, to exclude the use of counterfeit documents and the provision of large sums of money to persons organizing these processes illegally.

At the same time, the National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia calls on all those citizens who have suffered from the actions of this group to apply to law enforcement bodies.

Note: anyone charged with a 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.