ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER URGES OFFICIALS TO GIVE PUBLIC EXPLANATIONS FOR MONEY LAUNDERING ACCUSATIONS

ARKA
Oct 29, 2009

YEREVAN, October 29, /ARKA/. Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian
said today government officials, accused by a parliament member of
money laundering, must give public explanations.

According to the prime minister, in an interview to an Armenian
newspaper, ‘168 Zham’ (168 Hours), a non-partisan parliament member
Viktor Dalakian said he knows that some government officials are
engaged in money-laundering operations.

"This is a signal to prosecutors and the Central Bank to give public
explanations to Viktor Daklakian’s statement,’ Tigran Sarkisian said
today while opening the recurrent government session.

The head of the government said Dalakian’s statement is ‘a serious
signal for the government to step up its efforts for revealing
money-laundering instances.

Armenia’s prosecutor general Aghvan Hovsepian said during a recent
meeting of the board of the Office of Prosecutor General, attended
also by officials from the Central Bank and journalists, the focus
was on the joint efforts of the law-enforcement bodies and Central
Bank to fight money laundering.

He also recalled that the Council of Europe’s Moneyval Committee said
in a latest report that Armenia has made substantial progress in the
implementation of recommendations of International Financial Action
Task Force on Money laundering. The Committee of Experts Moneyval of
the Council of Europe monitors and assesses the measures adopted by
member states in the field of prevention and fighting against money
laundering and financing of terrorism in line with recommendations
drawn up by Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering.

Moneyval at its 30th plenary meeting in late September adopted the
mutual evaluation report of Armenia. In its assessment of Step 3 of
fighting money laundering and financing of terrorism Armenia is in
the 10th position among 25 member countries.