Local officials detained on bribery charges in Ganja
By Akbar Mammadov
A criminal case has been launched against five officials of the State Social Protection Fund (SSPF) in Ganja under bribery charges, the Prosecutor General’s Office reported on June 29.
The criminal case against the local officials of SSPF's Kapaz district department was initiated after the investigation by the Anti-Corruption General Directorate under the Prosecutor General based on the material received from the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection.
As a result of the investigation, former sector head of the Kapaz district department in Ganja Elchin Alakbarov, Deputy Director of the same fund Bayali Khalilov and Arif Ganbarov, the head of the Kapaz department of the SSPF in Ganja in 2010-2016, were charged for repeated large-scale bribery, among other charges.
In addition, Nizami Ahmadov, who worked as the head of the Kapaz department of the SSPF in Ganja in 2016-2018, and Samaya Eminova, who worked as the head of the pension sector of that department, were charged under Article 308.1 (abuse of power) of the Criminal Code, and a restraining order was issued against them. Substantial suspicions have been established that they abused power and created conditions for the determination and payment of illegal pensions.
The Prosecutor General’s Office revealed that in 2015-2017, in collaboration with Khalilov and Ganbarov, the former sector head Alakbarov demanded money from 32 residents of the region at different times and repeatedly in the amount of 122,000 Azerbaijani manats in exchange for a pension, taking into account the work experience and degree of disability based on fake documents.
It has also been identified that Alakbarov used the help of his acquaintance Shahin Mammadov as a mediator. Moreover, the Prosecutor General’s Office identified that he repeatedly deceived 21 people and seized 70,000 manats, falsely saying that Elchin Alakbarov was able to award a pension.
Abulfaz Ibrahimov, a member of a criminal group who acted as a mediator, was found guilty of sharing and spending money for their personal needs jointly with Shahin Mammadov, as well as inciting citizens to pay bribes for this illegal act.
Therefore, Shahin Mammadov was charged under Articles 32.5, 311.3.3 of the Criminal Code (assisting to take large-scale repeated bribery with collaboration in advance), while and Abulfaz Ibrahimov was charged under Article 178.2.4 of the Criminal Code (large-scale repeated fraud abusing official position).
Earlier, on June 23, a criminal case was launched against two officials of the Absheron District Executive Authorities under bribery charges The court in Baku’s Binagadi district sentenced the head of the Department of Architecture and Construction of the Absheron District Executive Authorities, Akif Aliyev to four months in jail on the charge of bribery.
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Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97
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