March 26, 2012 Update
- Armenian Power Organized Crime Group Convicted For One Of The Largest Identity Theft And Bank Fraud Schemes
- Armenian Pleads Guilty in Medicare Fraud Case By Louie Brogdon
- Armen Kazarian "Pzo" Pleads Guilty in Medicare Fraud Case
- Raids Targeting Armenian Gang Net 74 Fraud Suspects
- Scams By Armenian Power Took $20 Million From Discount Store Shoppers And The Elderly, Authorities Say.
- U.S. Atty. Andre Birotte Jr. announces arrests of members and associates of the Armenian Power gang, which is accused of committing two kidnappings.
- Armenian Power Videos
- Thirteen Arrested in Miami in Massive Mafia Crackdown
- The Guardian: ARMENIAN MAFIA @ Lragir.am Armenian Criminals Smuggled Weapons Grade Uranium For Terrorists @ AGRC
- Century of Armenian Diaspora Success Destroyed? @ Armenian Observer
- Zhamanak: Owner of Atlantic Café among Armenian criminals in US
- Armenian Mafia targets American Shows
- Kazarian-Armen-Et-Al-Indictment
- Defendants in U.S. v. Armen Kazarian, et al.
- Armenian Organized Crime Grows More Complex
- Massive Armenian Fraud Exposed … Again!
- Videos Of Armenian Crooks And Swindlers Available
- Armenian Criminals Smuggled Weapons Grade Uranium For Terrorists
- Armenian Criminals Go Sophisticated, Hi-Tech and… Nuclear November 8, 2010 The Armenian Observer
- Smuggle Weapons-Grade Uranium @ BBC
- Two Armenians Slipped Aboard A Train With A Nuclear Bomb Grade Uranium @ AP
- Capture Of Armenians Smuggling Highly Enriched Uranium Suggests Existence Of More Extensive Black Market @ The Guardian UK
- Hrant Ohanian, A Retired Nuclear Physicist From A Science Institute In Armenia, Pleaded Guilty To Smuggling The 90 Per Cent-Enriched Uranium From The Armenian Capital Yerevan. . . Sumbat Tonayan Had More Uranium To Sell @ Independent UK
- Armenians To Smuggle Weapon Grade Uranium To Terrorists @ Daily Mail UK
- Why Nuclear Smuggling Matters : See The Research Paper Attached Below
Armenian Power Organized Crime Group Convicted For One Of The Largest Identity Theft And Bank Fraud Schemes
March 25, 2012
A member of the Armenian Power organized crime group and three associates were convicted of one of the largest identity theft and bank fraud schemes in the history of California, authorities said : www.justice.gov. The trial lasted five weeks. Dozens of victims in four states were affected, and millions of dollars stolen.
Arman Sharopetrosian, a member of the Armenian Power organized crime group, and the group’s three associates Karen Markosian,
Artush Margaryan and Kristine Ogandzhanyan were convicted of conspiring to commit bank fraud, attempted bank fraud and various counts of aggravated identity theft. Sharopetrosian, Markosian and Ogandzhanyan waived their right to a trial by jury, and consented to trial by the judge. The fourth defendant, Margaryan, was tried by jury.
Ogandzhanyan was found guilty on March 22, while the remaining three defendants were convicted on March 16.
Sharopetrosian and his co-defendant Angus Brown conducted a large scale fraud scheme while serving time at Avenal State Prison. Sharopetrosian and Brown used cell phones smuggled into the prison to coordinate with Ogandzhanyn, Markosian and Margaryan and others. The group was able to obtain confidential information on the victims’ bank accounts, and steal their money.
With the victims’ names, social security numbers and dates of birth on hand, the defendants impersonated the victims when calling the banks, and were able to transfer money between accounts and order checks. They would then use the victim’s signatures found on public documents to forge the checks. The group usually targeted high-value bank accounts. Over six years, the group stole more than $10 million from victims in Southern California, Nevada, Arizona and Texas.
“These defendants, including two individuals who were operating from a prison cell, perpetrated a massive fraudulent scheme on behalf of a dangerous criminal enterprise,” said Lanny Breuer, the Assistant Attorney General. He added that “We are doing everything possible to shut down dangerous gangs like Armenian Power.”
These four defendants associated with the Armenian Power group are among 20 people charged with running the bank fraud and identity theft scheme. The indictments were unsealed on Feb. 16, 2011.
Sharopetrosian, Margaryan, Markosian and Ogandzhanyan face sentences of up to 30 years for each count of bank fraud, 30 years for each count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, as well as an additional mandatory two year sentences for each count of aggravated identity theft. Their sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 6, 2012.
http://www.reportingproject.net/occrp/index.php/en/ccwatch/cc-watch-indepth/1443-member-of-armenian-power-organized-crime-group-convicted-for-bank-fraud
Source: Hetq.am
Armenian Power Member and Three Armenian Power Associates Convicted in Los Angeles for Roles in Identity Theft Ring U.S. Department of Justice
March 22, 2012 Office of Public Affairs
(202) 514-2007/TDD (202) 514-1888
WASHINGTON—After a five week trial, four defendants have been convicted for their roles in one of the largest bank fraud and identity theft schemes in California history, with dozens of victims in four states and millions of dollars in losses.
The convictions were announced by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte, Jr. of the Central District of California; Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office Steven Martinez; and Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) Joseph Beaty.
Arman Sharopetrosian, Karen Markosian, Artush Margaryan, and Kristine Ogandzhanyan were found guilty of conspiring to commit bank fraud, attempted bank fraud, and various counts of aggravated identity theft. Sharopetrosian, Markosian, and Ogandzhanyan waived a jury trial and consented to trial by the judge, and Margaryan proceeded with a jury trial.
Yesterday, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter found Ogandzhanyan, 28, of Burbank, California, guilty of one count of bank fraud conspiracy, two counts of attempted bank fraud, and four counts of aggravated identity theft. On March 16, 2012, the judge found Sharopetrosian, 33, of Burbank, guilty of one count of bank fraud conspiracy, four counts of bank fraud, and seven counts of aggravated identify theft. On March 16, 2012, the judge also found Markosian, 39, of Glendale, California, guilty of one count of bank fraud conspiracy, one count of attempted bank fraud, and two counts of aggravated identity theft. A jury convicted the fourth defendant, Artush Margaryan, 28, of Van Nuys, California, on March 16, 2012 of one count of bank fraud conspiracy, one count of attempted bank fraud, and three counts of aggravated identity theft.
Evidence was presented at trial that Sharopetrosian is a member of the Armenian Power organized crime group, and Margaryan, Markosian, and Ogandzhanyan are Armenian Power associates.
According to evidence presented at trial, Sharopetrosian directed the massive fraud scheme along with co-defendant Angus Brown while the two were incarcerated at Avenal State Prison. Using cellular telephones that were smuggled into the prison, Sharopetrosian and Brown worked from behind bars to coordinate with others, including Ogandzhanyn, Markosian, and Margaryan, to obtain confidential bank profile information and steal money from victim account holders. Often targeting high-value bank accounts, the defendants used account holders’ personal identifying information—including names, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth—to impersonate victims in phone calls to the bank. The defendants gathered account information, transferred funds between victims’ accounts, and placed unauthorized check orders for the accounts. They then stole the checks, obtained the victims’ signatures from public documents, and paid conspirators to cash the forged checks. Over the course of the six-year conspiracy, the defendants and their co-conspirators caused more than $10 million dollars in losses to victims in Southern California, Nevada, Arizona, and Texas.
“These defendants, including two individuals who were operating from a prison cell, perpetrated a massive fraudulent scheme on behalf of a dangerous criminal enterprise,” said Assistant Attorney General Breuer. “As members and associates of Armenian Power, they stole sensitive personal and financial information from innocent consumers and caused millions of dollars in losses. Whether organized criminal groups traffic in drugs, commit financial fraud or wreak other havoc to keep themselves going, they must be stopped. We are doing everything possible to shut down dangerous gangs like Armenian Power.”
“The safety and sanctity of confidential financial information is paramount in today’s society,” said U.S. Attorney Birotte. “Identity theft is a fundamental invasion of consumer privacy that cannot be tolerated. These convictions demonstrate that violators, whoever and wherever they may be, will be caught and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the federal law.”
“The defendants were convicted in a trial that uncovered a sophisticated and lengthy scheme that targeted victims in multiple states and included disturbing details, such as orders made from within prison walls and assistance from bank insiders enlisted by the defendants,” said FBI Assistant Director Martinez. “This case is also indicative of the growing trend of gang or organized crime-affiliated groups now engaging in identity theft and other financial crimes in furtherance of their enterprise.”
These defendants are four of 20 defendants who were charged with operating the bank fraud and identity theft scheme in one of a series of federal indictments unsealed on February 16, 2011. The indictments allege various federal crimes against members and associates of the Armenian Power criminal organization. To date, 19 of the 20 defendants charged in the bank fraud indictment have been convicted, including Brown. One defendant, Faye Bell, was arrested earlier this year and is still awaiting trial.
Sharopetrosian, Margaryan, Markosian, and Ogandzhanyan face maximum sentences of 30 years in federal prison for each count of bank fraud, 30 years for each count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and additional mandatory two year sentences for each count of aggravated identity theft.
Sentencing for all four defendants is scheduled for August 6, 2012 before Judge Carter.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Martin Estrada and Joseph McNally of the Central District of California and Trial Attorney Cristina Moreno of the Organized Crime and Gang Section in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. The case was investigated by the Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force, which includes the FBI, the USSS, the Los Angeles Police Department, the Glendale Police Department, the Burbank Police Department, the Internal Revenue Service, and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Source: http://www.fbi.gov
4 Convicted in Major Bank Fraud, Identity Thefts
LOS ANGELES March 23, 2012 (AP)
Four members of an Armenian organized crime ring were convicted in one of the largest bank fraud and identity theft schemes in California history, the U.S. attorney's office announced Thursday.
All four were Armenian Power members or associates who targeted dozens of victims in California, Nevada, Arizona and Texas, according to assistant attorney general Lanny Breuer. Over the course of the six-year conspiracy, more than $10 million was stolen.
Arman Sharopetrosian, 33; Karen Markosian, 39; Artush Margaryan, 28 and Kristine Ogandzhanyan, 28, were found guilty of conspiring to commit bank fraud, attempted bank fraud and various counts of aggravated identity theft on March 16. They are due for sentencing Aug. 6.
Sharopetrosian is a member of the Armenian Power organized crime group and was a ringleader of the massive fraud scheme, while the rest of the defendants were associates, prosecutors said.
Using cellphones smuggled into Avenal State Prison, the incarcerated Sharopetrosian and co-defendant Angus Brown coordinated a scheme to obtain Social Security numbers and birth dates and use the information to steal money from the account holders.
"These defendants, including two individuals who were operating from a prison cell, perpetrated a massive fraudulent scheme on behalf of a dangerous criminal enterprise," said Breuer. "Whether organized criminal groups traffic in drugs, commit financial fraud or wreak other havoc to keep themselves going, they must be stopped."
The scheme targeted high-value bank accounts, transferred money out of the accounts, had unauthorized checks printed for the accounts and used forged signatures to write checks.
In all, 20 defendants were charged in the sophisticated and lengthy scheme, which involved orders made from within prisons and the assistance of bank insiders who had been enlisted by the criminal organization.
To date, all but one of the defendants involved in the scheme have been convicted. Faye Bell is awaiting trial.
Those convicted face maximum sentences of 30 years in federal prison for each count of bank fraud, 30 years for each count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and additional mandatory two year sentences for each count of aggravated identity theft.
The convictions announced Thursday were:
— Sharopetrosian: One count of bank fraud conspiracy, four counts of bank fraud and seven counts of aggravated identify theft, for a maximum possible sentence of 164 years.
— Ogandzhanyan: One count of bank fraud conspiracy, two counts of attempted bank fraud and four counts of aggravated identity theft, for a maximum possible sentence of 98 years.
— Margaryan: One count of bank fraud conspiracy, one count of attempted bank fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft, for a maximum possible sentence of 66 years.
— Markosian: One count of bank fraud conspiracy, one count of attempted bank fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft, for a maximum possible sentence of 64 years.
Source: http://abcnews.go.com/
Armenian Pleads Guilty in Medicare Fraud Case By Louie Brogdon
After being flown from Los Angeles to stand trial in federal court in Brunswick, an Armenian man accused of laundering money for phony medical supply businesses pleaded guilty Monday.
Sahak Tumanyan, 43, pled guilty in U.S. District Court to one count of conspiracy to launder money in an $8 million Medicare fraud scheme that involved Brunswick Medical Supply, a fake business at 1603 Gloucester St., and other bogus businesses in Savannah, Macon and other cities.
U.S. Attorney Brian Rafferty alleged the false businesses were stealing Medicare information from doctors and patients and then making false claims for medical goods that never existed.
As a part of a plea offer from Rafferty, the charge against Tumanyan's wife, Hasmik Tumanyan, 38, was dropped.
Hasmik Tumanyan originally faced the same count as her husband on a 10-count federal indictment.
The Tumanyans were rearrested after making bond because prosecutors said they tried to flee back to Armenia before their trial.
Sentencing for Sahak Tumanyan will happen at a later date. He faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison and up to $500,000 in fines, according to First Assistant U.S. Attorney James Durham.
Along with the Tumanyans, nearly 40 federal witnesses had been scheduled to fly to Brunswick. Durham said Monday he did not know if all the now-unnecessary plane tickets had been purchased.
The lead defendant in the case, Arthur Manasarian, 49, pled guilty Aug. 4 to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and another count of aggravated identity theft.
Manasarian is also awaiting sentencing. He faces 12 years imprisonment, more than $500,000 in fines and possible restitution when he is sentenced.
Also charged are two other Armenians, Gegham Sargsyan, 56, and Khoren Gasparian, 27, who are hiding in Armenia and Russia, according to Durham.
Toni R. Lowery, 27, of Savannah was charged in an original indictment, but his case was dropped in December.
The case is believed to be part of a nationwide crime syndicate that has fleeced Medicare of $163 million, according to U.S. Attorney Edward J. Tarver.
The Brunswick News, August 16, 2011
July 9, 2011 Update
Armen Kazarian "Pzo" Pleads Guilty in Medicare Fraud Case
The reputed head of a vast network of Armenian gangsters has pleaded guilty in New York to racketeering charges.
Armen Kazarian entered the plea in federal court in Manhattan on Friday. Kazarian was accused of being the boss of a network of criminals who used bogus health care clinics and other means to try to cheat Medicare out of $163 million.
When the FBI announced the charges in October 2010, they had said that it was the largest fraud by one criminal enterprise in the program's history.
The 47-year-old Glendale, Calif., resident could face up to 20 years in prison.
Kazarian, is alleged to be a "Vor," a term translated as "Thief-in-Law." The term "Vor" refers to a member of a select group of high-level criminals from Russia and the countries that had been part of the former Soviet Union, including Armenia. This is the first time a Vor has ever been charged and arrested for federal racketeering crimes.
Sentencing was scheduled for Oct. 6.
13 March 2011 Armenia in "waiting mode"
The results of the investigation into the Armenian mafia case in the United States may have a serious impact on the world's attitude towards Armenia and the Armenian lobby
Sahil Isgandarov, political scientist
Baku
In the second half of October, the world learnt about a major scam involving an Armenian criminal group in the United States. As a result of the scam, US taxpayers suffered substantial damage. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has already arrested 70 members of this criminal syndicate comprised mainly of Armenian immigrants and citizens led by a criminal boss named Armen Kazaryan, alias Pzo. According to the information available, this organized criminal group also dealt illegally in weapons, precious stones and rare-earth metals, smuggled drugs and was involved in kidnappings and extortion. A court in Los Angeles has already refused to bail three members of the Armenian criminal group – Armen Kazaryan (Pzo), Vardan Boyajian and Grayr Bagumyan, explaining that they pose a danger to society. The charges also say that the criminals misled the US immigration authorities and "used representatives of a foreign government to ensure that that government refuses to accept people deported from the United States, thus depriving the US authorities of the possibility of deporting them home". There appears to be a clear link between this group and the former Armenian consul in Los Angeles, Norayr Galumyan, who was arrested in the USA some time ago. Together with four of his accomplices, Galumyan, on behalf of the Armenian government, sold counterfeit letters to interested persons, saying that Armenia could not provide immigrants with travel documents and thus preventing their deportation home. Most of those who bought the forged documents have been charged with murder, assault and other crimes.
Even a cursory analysis shows that there is a well-established structure linking closely the Armenian criminals, terrorism and the Armenian state. It is no coincidence that Pzo was present as an honorary guest at the wedding of the son of Armenia's former president, Robert Kocharyan; bringing very expensive gifts. Kazaryan is also reported to be linked to the country's current leadership and its circle, specifically Aleksandr Sargsyan, brother of the Armenian president. It is otherwise impossible to explain Pzo's strange release from custody in Yerevan.
According to several Armenian and Russian news agencies, the clan of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has developed a unique scheme for creating criminal syndicates in the USA and Russia. It became known that 32 representatives of the Armenian political and business elite had been involved in criminal cases launched by the Russian law-enforcement agencies. We are talking about criminal cases related mostly to human trafficking, drug trafficking and money-laundering. Russia raised the issue of bringing these people to criminal accountability, and among them are the Armenian president's brother Aleksandr Sargsyan, Armenian Speaker Ovik Abramyan, the head of the state revenue committee, Gagik Khachatryan, and members of parliament Ruben Ayrapetyan, Samvel Aleksanyan, Levon Sarkisyan and Gagik Tsarukyan. Despite undeniable evidence and the Russian demands, the Armenian Prosecutor-General's Office and National Security Service (NSS) do not dare or, to be more precise, do not want to open criminal cases against them, for fear of not just tarnishing the reputation of the country's authorities, but also revealing Armenians and the Armenian state in their true colours.
Meanwhile, the Armenian president's brother runs away from especially hair-splitting journalists, hiding in the toilet. Recently, when a correspondent from the Aykakan Zhamanak newspaper tried to ask him about possible links with Pzo, Aleksandr Sargsyan said that he had to go to the toilet urgently. Then, raining curses on the journalists, he left the parliament building. To all appearances, the Armenian authorities and their close circle have taken on board this Armenian "know how" in the field of international relations which was first used by the country's former president, Robert Kocharyan. During his negotiations with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Rambouillet in February 2006, Kocharyan suddenly walked out of the meeting, saying later that he left because he had to go to the toilet.
But it seems the tactic of pleading a call of nature is not going to work. The US law-enforcement agencies have got down to business in earnest, realizing at last who hides behind the mask of the world's "poorest" and "longest-suffering" people which has turned Washington into a milch cow. The US authorities demanded that their representatives be allowed to inspect banks in Armenia. According to the US intelligence service, some of the stolen money had gone there via banks. The FBI suspects that money was laundered in Armenia through real estate deals and, as the FBI does not trust information from the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA), it decided to check every bank itself.
There is no doubt that the investigation will expose many of the criminal secrets of the Armenians and the Armenian authorities. If you remember, in February this year Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisyan refused to visit Israel, pleading a sudden fever. In fact, he was scared that he might be arrested by the Israel law-enforcement agencies. There was reason for this because when he was chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia he was engaged in money-laundering and helped to transfer illegal money to some Arab countries. The Israeli intelligence service found out that some of this money was used to support terrorist organizations. Several high-ranking Armenian officials learnt that Israel was aware of Sarkisyan's machinations, and they advised him to forego his trip to Israel.
Along with inspections of all Armenian banks, the FBI also intends to delve into documents at notaries' offices to ascertain whether the purchases of numerous expensive flats, offices and mansions by representatives of the criminal group were legal. Such a scale of investigation greatly worried Robert Kocharyan and the current Armenian authorities, who urgently started to dissociate themselves from their partners in crime and even found scapegoats. For the time being, the scapegoat is the head of the Armenian state revenue committee, Khachatryan, whom they are going to blame for the fact that Armenia has become a conduit for drugs and weapons, especially as there is undeniable evidence of his close links with Pzo. But Khachatryan was probably just a reliable link between the criminal boss and the Armenian authorities. We see that the Armenians and Armenia are clearly trying to save face and, most importantly, to prevent the cessation of the influx of huge financial resources from the West, including the USA, which are then used to militarize Armenia and the separatist regime in Nagornyy Karabakh and spent on the needs of Armenian terrorist organizations.
In June last year, the US Millennium Challenge Corporation decided to stop financing a road construction programme. The reason was that steps taken by the Armenian government did not correspond to one of the corporation's three criteria – fair management. Since then, Yerevan has had "operational hold" status (i.e. it has been in waiting mode). Over the past year, the corporation was supposed to study whether Armenia satisfied the necessary requirements. If the conclusion was positive, Armenia would be given 68 million dollars to finance a road construction sub-programme by the official end of the programme in September 2011. Now a source at the Millennium Challenge Corporation says that no funding will be allocated. The activity of the Armenian criminal group arrested in the USA, particularly the fact that some of the stolen money was invested in real estate and business in Armenia, was a significant factor in the Washington administration’s decision, and the board of the corporation will soon hold a meeting at which this decision will be officially endorsed.
Another Armenian criminal scandal shook Russia recently. In late October, Armenia finally extradited Telman Mkhitaryan, one of the leaders of the Novgorod criminal community, to the Russian Federation. He had been hiding in Armenia for a long time. This criminal boss, who heads several joint-stock companies, such as the Novgorod Glass Fibre Factory, Proyektstroy and a number of other enterprises and organizations, controlled a considerable section of the region's economy. Under the region's former governor, Mikhail Prusak, he served as the governor's adviser for political affairs and, according to the Russian law-enforcement agencies, he was the region's godfather or, to be more precise, its true master for 11 years. After the Russian law-enforcement agencies charged him with illegal entrepreneurship in 2007, Mkhitaryan managed to flee to Armenia. A peculiar aspect of the story is that in 2000 an essay was published about him in the collection "The 100 Leaders of Novgorod Land". He received honours "for many years of hard work, for strengthening friendship and cooperation between peoples, developing the urban economy and high achievements in public activities". In 2001, the leadership of the Velikiy Novgorod city administration, represented by Mayor Aleksandr Korsunov, gave Mkhitaryan the title of honorary citizen of Velikiy Novgorod. In the summer of 2002, he was given the Order of Friendship (by Decree 426 of the Russian president on 27 April 2002). The order was timed to coincide with Telman Akopovich's 55th birthday. One of the regional newspapers wrote at the time: "What else can you give someone who has everything?" He is also an active member of the UN's International Information Academy with General Consultant status and the World e-Parliament. What regalia?! Perhaps he came to believe in his own omnipotence and once, in the heat of the moment, he called Governor Prusak a tramp, saying that he was registered in a village. In one of his interviews, he promised to "give" the city of Velikiy Novgorod to his grandchildren.
It is also worth noting the actions of Ashot Yegiazaryan, a member of the Russian State Duma from the LDPR faction. This is the same Yegiazaryan who once played a role in the sacking of Russian Prosecutor-General Yuriy Skuratov. Recently, at the request of the investigation committee of the Russian Prosecutor-General's Office, the Russian State Duma stripped Yegiazaryan of his immunity as a deputy and decided to open a criminal case against him. He is being charged with the theft of almost two billion roubles from two businessmen. Yegiazaryan himself, outraged by this action, left Russia. It is interesting that the deputy speaker of the State Duma, LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovskiy, vehemently defended his MP and tried to protect him from fair punishment. But he forgot to mention how much money (according to some reports, at least 20 million US dollars) Yegiazaryan had donated to LDPR funds during two Russian parliamentary election campaigns. Incidentally, this is the second time that an ethnic Armenian member of the Russian Federal Assembly, has been brought to criminal accountability. Several years ago, a senator from Kalmykia, Levon Chakhmakhchyan, was sentenced to 9.5 years' imprisonment for major fraud.
According to Smbat Karakhanyan, chairman of the Miabanutyun Armenian National Club, Armenia does not have a true state system, while the government was knocked together from representatives of the oligarchy, criminals and foreign protégés via falsifications and pressure.
Not only the Armenian authorities, but also some foreign countries, are touchingly concerned about the fate of former and current Armenian officials involved in criminal dealings. The secretary of the Armenian Security Council, Artur Bagdasaryan, who is a personal protégé of Serzh Sargsyan, was declared a traitor by the then president Kocharyan, after a scandal involving representatives of the British embassy (according to some reports, representatives of the British intelligence service) and was publicly accused of espionage against Armenia. But he was suddenly appointed secretary of the Armenian Security Council several months later. According to Armenian sources, Bagdasaryan is the country's first politician to burst into the government elite not just with support from officials and business circles, but also from foreign forces (France). He has been awarded French, Austrian and Kazakh medals, and a medal "For Service to the Kaliningrad Region" (?!) by the governor of the Kaliningrad Region on 3 November 2009.
In this context, the personality of A. Arutyunyan, chairman of the board of Armenian Public TV (H1 TV channel) and former secretary of the National Security Council (1998-2002), is also of interest. After the terrorist attack on the country's parliament in 1999, he was arrested on charges of organizing it. Prior to that, he had maintained close links with the terrorists' ringleader, Nairi Unanyan. After several months in prison, Arutyunyan was released in April 2000. President Kocharyan played a major role in this, while the French embassy was also active in this matter.
According to the Russian law-enforcement agencies, the "godfathers" of the Armenian mafia have been using their connections in the Russian government since the 1990s to participate in the distribution of quotas, licences and loans and in the conversion of currency. Some of the money earned through crime is spent on bribing politicians and to support "their own people" against the courts, prosecutor's office and police. The group specializes in the economic sphere and establishes illegal ways of importing precious metals and stones into Armenia from Russia in order to process them and sell them abroad. They also engage in highway robbery, drug trafficking and ordinary muggings. An analytical note concerning the crime situation in the Sverdlovsk Region in the context of ethnic crime, prepared by experts of the region's Department of Internal Affairs and Department of the Federal Security Service, contains an interesting point: "Caucasian criminal groups are continuing their expansion in the Urals. Representatives of the Armenian diaspora have gone further than others in this field. After the forestry business in which some representatives of the Armenian diaspora have been doing well, they started buying up land plots that can be used for construction or sale. The Armenians also suppress other ethnic groups. One of the most graphic examples is the seizure of land in Atiga (Nizhneserginskiy District of Sverdlovsk Region). Chinese businessmen, who planned to open two factories in and around Atiga, failed to set up their business independently. Representatives of the Armenian diaspora placed the Chinese under their control and are now looking after them, reaping good dividends from this business. At the same time, influential Armenians cite their good connections in the law-enforcement agencies. The Armenian diaspora is also taking control of businesses in the Taganskiy Ryad market. The Chinese no longer have a monopoly on trade in consumer goods at Taganskiy Ryad, which was once the richest and most profitable market in Yekaterinburg.
Armenians now have a share in footwear sales. The next target is the housing market. Representatives of the Armenian diaspora easily worm their way into people's confidence and occupy top positions in commercial organizations. Then they take over company property using false documents, corrupt officials and fellow Armenians. They use blackmail and threats, criminal cases and rough physical violence. Buildings and flats are held and used illegally, while the legal owners are not allowed in. The seized buildings are used to arrange criminal gatherings, open brothels, use drugs and openly demonstrate weapons. At the same time, there is almost no hope for an impartial investigation into complaints filed by Ural entrepreneurs, because the diaspora covers everything up. Rare witnesses of these atrocities are hunted and intimidated, and the raiders from the Caucasus get away with everything."
As we can see from the note, the main coordinators of these criminal actions are in fact the leaders of the Armenian diaspora in Russia. This is also proved by numerous other criminal charges brought against the leaders of Russian Armenians.
Armenians who have made their way into Russian academic circles are also engaged in criminal activities, like their compatriots. For example, several years ago, a major scandal broke out involving one of the "fathers of market reform in Russia", Academician Abel Aganbekyan. He was charged under Articles 285 and 289 of the Russian Criminal Code (abuse of office and illegal entrepreneurship). The academician was charged with misappropriating 4.8 million roubles in real estate operations at his Agriculture Academy.
The latest events prove that serious tests await the Armenian lobby. The Armenian diaspora, the criminal world and the authorities are under great pressure from the US and Russian law-enforcement agencies. Incidentally, it is possible that their position on this issue is becoming tougher due to one more issue. Moscow suspects that the Armenian special services, closely linked to the criminal world, are supplying information not only to bandits, but to foreign intelligence services. Because of this, there was a serious scandal when, several months ago, a number of Armenian agents were exposed and arrested in the USA thanks to a tip-off from the former head of the human resources department of the Armenian NSS, Vardan Yegiazaryan, who was mentioned in the case of the arrest of Russian agents in the USA. Some Russian and Armenian media claim that Yegiazaryan, who knew about the Russian agents in the USA, simply "surrendered" their names to the US intelligence service in exchange for the right to move to the United States. We may suppose that being caught in the crossfire between the US and Russian intelligence services, the Armenians and the Armenian authorities are trying their best to minimize the negative consequences to themselves. Otherwise, they might lose huge financial handouts from abroad.
regionplus
Raids Targeting Armenian Gang Net 74 Fraud Suspects
Scams By Armenian Power Took $20 Million From Discount Store Shoppers And The Elderly, Authorities Say.
Department of Justice Press Release
For Immediate Release
February 16, 2011 United States Attorney's Office
Central District of California
Contact: (213) 894-2434
Armenian Power Organized Crime Group Targeted in Federal Indictments That Allege Racketeering Offenses, Including Bank Fraud Schemes, Kidnappings, and Drug Trafficking
Seventy Accused in RICO Indictment that Outlines Criminal Conduct Across Southern California; Investigation Conducted by Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force
LOS ANGELES—As a result of two federal indictments and state cases that charge a total of 99 defendants with a wide range of crimes—including kidnapping, extortion, bank fraud, and narcotics trafficking—law enforcement authorities this morning arrested 74 members and associates of the Armenian Power organized crime group.
The majority of the defendants arrested this morning are named in two federal indictments that charge a total of 88 defendants linked to Armenian Power, which is commonly called AP.
One indictment accuses 29 defendants with participating in a RICO conspiracy in violation of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. The RICO charge alleges a host of illegal activities, some of which are sophisticated white-collar crimes such as identity theft, credit card skimming, and manufacturing counterfeit checks. Among the conspiracies charged in the racketeering indictment is a bank fraud and counterfeit credit card scheme that victimized hundreds of customers of 99 Cents Only Stores throughout Southern California. AP members allegedly caused more than $2 million in losses when they secretly installed sophisticated "skimming" devices to steal customer account information at cash registers and then used the skimmed information to create counterfeit debit and credit cards.
The 134-count racketeering indictment returned three weeks ago by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles charges a total of 70 defendants. In addition to the RICO count that includes nearly 450 overt acts, the indictment includes charges against AP members for kidnapping, extortion, bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, credit card fraud, marijuana distribution, and conducting an illegal gambling business.
"The indictments that target the Armenian Power organized crime enterprise provide a window into a group that appears willing to do anything and everything illegal to make a profit," said United States Attorney André Birotte Jr. "These types of criminal organizations—through the use of extortions, kidnappings, and other violent acts—have a demonstrated a willingness to prey upon members of their own community. As we have seen in Los Angeles and elsewhere, these groups also engaged in various fraud schemes that clearly have had a significant impact on financial institutions and their customers who have lost millions of dollars and lost their sense of security through identity theft and credit card fraud."
Steven Martinez, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI in Los Angeles, stated: "Investigators from nine agencies leveraged their collective expertise to identify the threat posed by members of Armenian Power, a criminal enterprise with over 200 members, bent on generating illicit revenue to expand its power base. While some organized crime groups have been largely suppressed, others, including AP, have managed to grow from a street gang into an international organized crime group, carrying out criminal activity that runs the gamut from bank fraud schemes to extortion to kidnapping, and capable of making every citizen of the community a potential victim."
The second federal indictment was returned by a federal grand jury in Orange County and charges 20 defendants, two of whom are also charged in the racketeering indictment. Similar to the some of the schemes alleged in the racketeering indictment, the Orange County case alleges that AP members engaged in a bank fraud scheme that targeted elderly victims. Investigators found that members of the Armenian Power organization were working in conjunction with members of African-American street gangs and bribed bank insiders to gather information that allowed them to take over bank accounts and cause losses of at least $10 million.
In addition to the federal indictments, the Los Angeles County District Attorney has charged 11 defendants in seven cases filed in superior court, which means that a total of 99 members and associates of Armenian Power have been charged.
In separate actions brought by federal authorities in Miami and Denver, and announced along with the Los Angeles indictments by the Department of Justice, more than a dozen additional defendants, some of whom are linked to Armenian Power, were charged with extortion and fraud offenses.
"Members of the organized crime groups charged today have allegedly committed literally hundreds of criminal acts—running the gamut of extortion, kidnapping, bank fraud, health care fraud, drug trafficking, and more. The common denominator among these defendants and their criminal enterprises is their willingness to commit any crime for profit, and to use any means of violence and intimidation to further their goals," said Assistant Attorney General Breuer of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. "In less than one month, however, the department has undertaken the largest one-day takedown of La Cosa Nostra; a coordinated national effort against street gangs; and today, taken action against Armenian Power and others with ties to international organized crime. These groups bring fear into our communities, defraud innocent victims, and put the safety and security of neighborhoods and our country at risk. We are taking an aggressive stand against these organized criminal groups and will continue our efforts to put them out of business."
The Los Angeles investigation into Armenian Power—dubbed Operation Power Outage—was conducted by the Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force, which is made up of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Secret Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, IRS - Criminal Investigation, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the Los Angeles Police Department, the Glendale Police Department, and the Burbank Police Department. The Orange County bank fraud indictment is the result of an investigation by the United States Secret Service and the Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force.
"This investigation has been a collective effort of our Orange County Resident Office and the Los Angeles Field Office for over the past five years," said Wayne Williams, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service. "As with everything we do, our success is only achieved with the continued support of our local and federal counterparts. Operation Power Outage demonstrates that collaborative efforts between local and federal law enforcement is alive and well in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area."
Operation Power Outage focused on Armenian Power, a criminal enterprise whose membership consists primarily of individuals whose heritage goes back to Armenia and other Eastern Bloc countries. AP is an international organized crime group that started as a street gang in East Hollywood in the 1980s. While members often identify themselves with tattoos, graffiti and gang clothing, the organization is less concerned with controlling "turf" than traditional street gangs and has long maintained a presence in several communities in the Hollywood area and the San Fernando Valley.
"We enjoy a strong relationship with federal law enforcement agencies and the U.S. Attorney's office," said Chief Ron De Pompa of the Glendale Police Department. "Operation Power Outage is sending a strong message to the criminal element victimizing the citizens of our communities. The cooperation and the marshalling of resources with our allied agencies enable us to dismantle these organizations."
The federal indictments allege a wide variety of different violent and fraud-related crimes—offenses that were allegedly conducted repeatedly and routinely. The alleged crimes include kidnapping, extortion, assault, witness intimidation, and drug distribution. In one kidnapping scheme, several AP members seized a victim and forced him to pay ransom by taking him to an auto body shop belonging to an AP member and threatening him with violence. Several defendants allegedly targeted another victim in an extortion scheme lasting several months, in which they threatened the victim and his family in order to extract repeated payments from the victim. The indictment alleges that the defendants repeatedly possessed and distributed marijuana and firearms.
"It is with a great deal of satisfaction that Operation Power Outage has successfully concluded," said Burbank Police Chief Scott LaChasse. "The Burbank Police Department's primary objective has been to work in collaboration with allied law enforcement agencies to ensure that our community is safe and secure. The teamwork involved in Operation Power Outage underscores the commitment and professionalism of all involved personnel and agencies."
The financial fraud crimes committed on behalf of Armenian Power were highly sophisticated, targeting hundreds of victims and resulting in millions of dollars of actual and intended losses to banks and individual victims. In addition to the scheme involving the 99 Cents Only Stores, AP members allegedly engaged in a large-scale check fraud scheme in which they unlawfully obtained customer information for high-value bank accounts, impersonated the bank customers to acquire checks, and then cashed and deposited checks in an effort to deplete the accounts. At times, members of the conspiracy allegedly went to victims' residences to steal blank checks that had been mailed to them.
"We are concerned with the increased level of fraud committed by these organized groups," said Glenn Ferry, Special Agent in Charge for the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health & Human Services. "The charges levied here today are similar to the identity theft schemes we are seeing in health care fraud investigations, that allow criminals to steal millions from the Medicare and Medi-Cal programs. We intend to aggressively pursue those who are committing these acts."
"Today's takedown of the Armenian Power street gang is indicative of law enforcement's resolve to investigate and prosecute those criminals who use violence and intimidation in promoting and protecting their criminal enterprises," said IRS-Criminal Investigation acting Special Agent in Charge Joel P. Garland. "IRS-Criminal Investigation plays a unique role in federal law enforcement's resolve to dismantle the criminal gang enterprises terrorizing our streets. Our agents target the profit and financial gains of organized criminal gangs, essentially following the money, to disrupt these organizations and enhance criminal prosecutions."
The investigation revealed that some Armenian Power members continued to be involved in various schemes even after they were convicted in state court and incarcerated. Two of the defendants are accused of using smuggled mobile phones to coordinate bank fraud schemes while in state prison, and one of those defendants allegedly helped organize a scheme to threaten and extort another person while he was in prison.
According to the racketeering indictment, Armenian Power, which is also known as AP-13, is closely allied with the Mexican Mafia, a prison gang that controls much of the narcotics distribution and other criminal activities within California correctional facilities. In addition to its connections to criminal groups operating in California, such as the Mexican Mafia, AP leadership maintains ties to Armenia and Russia and deals directly high-level Armenian/Russian organized crime figures. Among those high-level crime figures are traditional "Thieves-in-Law," who are used to resolve disputes and address criminal activity. Because of its large network of members and associates, its demonstrated ability to carry out acts of violence, and its strong relationship with the Mexican Mafia, Armenian Power leaders interact with traditional Thieves-in-Laws as equals. At times, AP members and associates confront and commit acts of violence against associates of traditional Thieves-in-Law in a demonstration of the authority of AP leadership.
"This successful multi-agency investigation concentrated on a racketeering criminal organization comprised of high-level Russian/Armenian crime figures responsible for violent acts on innocent victims and numerous fraudulent activities," stated Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca. "The criminal activities of these enterprises threaten our communities; economy and undermine the positive efforts of law enforcement."
An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.
If convicted, the defendants indicted as a result of Operation Power Outage face varying prison sentences, depending on the charges. For example, the defendants named in the RICO count faces up to 20 years in federal prison for that offense, and those charged in the marijuana-related offenses face mandatory minimum sentences of 10 years for the narcotics offenses.
The Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force Task Force worked with several other law enforcement agencies that provided substantial assistance during this morning's takedown, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, Bureau of Investigation; the United States Marshals Service; and investigators with the California Department of Motor Vehicles.
http://losangeles.fbi.gov
U.S. Atty. Andre Birotte Jr. announces arrests of members and associates of the Armenian Power gang, which is accused of committing two kidnappings. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times
By Andrew Blankstein and Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times
February 17, 2011
U.S. prosecutors accused an Armenian organized crime gang of bilking victims out of an estimated $20 million in an audacious series of financial scams that included replacing the credit-card machines at more than a dozen 99 Cent-Only stores with their own scanners designed to steal customers' banking information.
The charges filed Wednesday against alleged members and associates of the Armenian Power gang included allegations of two kidnappings, theft of money from elderly bank customers, the smuggling of cellphones into state prisons, and trafficking in drugs and weapons. Seventy-four suspects were arrested in early-morning raids at about 90 locations throughout Southern California in an operation that involved nearly 1,000 local, state and federal law enforcement officials. Additional arrests were made in Miami and Denver.
The charges, detailed in two lengthy indictments, are the most sweeping in what has been a campaign by law enforcement agencies to crack down on white-collar crime involving Armenian and Eurasian gangs in Glendale, Hollywood and other areas. In October, authorities arrested 52 members of an alleged Armenian crime group, charging them in a $160-million nationwide Medicare fraud.
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A 134-count indictment in the current case was returned under seal three weeks ago by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles, charging 70 defendants. A second 102-count indictment by a federal grand jury in Orange County charged 20 defendants.
Authorities said the credit-card swapping scam was detected last year when the manager of a 99 Cent Only store in Huntington Beach noticed that a cash register was not processing credit and debit cards properly. The manager informed police, who caught two suspects as they were removing one of the credit card skimmers from a store, federal officials told The Times.
Officials later determined that the gang had a system for leaving the number-skimming machines in place for about a week, gathering banking information, then replacing the store's own machines.
The information was used to create phony credit and debit cards. Gang members and associates allegedly sold the credit card information to other criminals and used the forged debit cards to drain the bank accounts of victims.
After being contacted by store officials, Huntington Beach police informed federal authorities, who determined the scam was taking place across the region — one of several types of banking fraud allegedly perpetrated by the gang.
Prosecutors also accused Armenian Power of teaming up with several African American gangs to target elderly bank customers in Orange County. The gang "unlawfully obtained customer information for high-value bank accounts, impersonated the bank customers to acquire checks, and then cashed and deposited checks in an effort to deplete the accounts," netting $10 million, according to the Orange County indictment.
Gang members allegedly impersonated customers and ordered new checks from banks, which they stole out of the victims' mailboxes. Two suspects allegedly smuggled cellphones into an unidentified state prison to help with coordinating bank fraud schemes.
The indictment alleged strong ties between Armenian Power and the Mexican Mafia, which federal authorities allege controls the narcotics trade and other crimes in state and federal prisons. According to the court filing, the Mexican Mafia provides "protection and status" to imprisoned Armenian Power members and their associates. In return, Armenian Power "assists Mexican Mafia members … with collecting money or 'taxes' within prison and outside of prison."
Authorities allege the two gangs also exchange "high-value gifts, including vehicles and weapons." The indictment also alleges that Armenian Power leaders had strong ties to organized crime in Armenia, Georgia and Russia.
Officials said Armenian Power allegedly kidnapped a Glendale auto body shop owner and held him for a $500,000 ransom. The indictment details a phone conversation in which suspects said they showed the man a hole in the ground, prompting him to start crying. The two then speculated that the man "might die of a heart attack" because he was so scared.
Authorities said at a news conference that Armenian Power was able to connect with other gangs because of its technological sophistication in white-collar crime. The gang had a cadre of younger members who were highly computer savvy, officials said.
The Armenian Power organization began as a street gang based in Glendale and Burbank two decades ago to protect new Armenian immigrants, according to officials. Since then, it has morphed into a formidable financial crime syndicate with about 200 members, according to the FBI.
At the 99 Cent Only store in Silver Lake on Wednesday, customers were stunned to learn about the scam and questioned how the suspects could have accessed the store's machines.
"They should make sure that nobody can get access to the machine," said shopper Billy Prasom, adding that he hoped the store had beefed up customer protections.
Officials with 99 Cent Only stores said that they have installed new security measures to protect against potential future scams.
In addition to the federal indictments, the Los Angeles County district attorney has charged 11 defendants in seven cases filed in L.A. County Superior Court.
andrew.blankstein@latimes.com
kate.linthicum@latimes.com
Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times
Warning: Offensive Language & Content
Thirteen Arrested in Miami in Massive Mafia Crackdown
By Kyle Munzenrieder, Wed., Feb. 16 2011
Organized crime is still alive in Miami, but after a crack down today not so well. Thirteen people throughout South Florida have been arrested and charged with ties to an organized crime syndicate. The arrests were part of a larger crackdown on a group called the Armenian Power gang. 100 people total were charged with crimes in South Florida as well as Denver and Los Angeles.
The thirteen men arrested in Florida were charged with a dizzying array of crimes between them, including but not limited to extortion, firearm smuggling, credit card fraud, money laundering, and health care fraud.
Aram Khranyan, 41, of Sunny Isles Beach, was one of the highest profile arrests in Miami. According to the Department of Justice he "was the 'overseer' of the extortion conspiracies and maintains strong ties to Armenia and Russia."
Officials also claim he entered into a fake marriage with 35-year-old Mira Shatkhin, also of Sunny Isles, in order to obtain American citizenship.
In addition, Andranik Itchmelyan, 48, of Davie, Fla.; Gegam Kalashyan, 41, of Hallandale Beach, Fla.; and Vladimir Okun, 44, of Davie were charged with smuggling firearms.
Vladimir Okun; Andrey Schegolev, 49, of Hollywood, Fla; Harvey Lerfelt, 51 of North Miami Beach, Andranik Itchmelyan, 48; Anahit Karapetyan, 40 of Davie; and Frank Rodriguez, 52, of North Miami Beach, Fla. were charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Through two separate clinics they billed private insurance companies for fraudulent procedures.
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For those whom are unaware, Southern California particularly the Los Angeles area has the largest population of Armenians outside of Armenia. These people are notorious in California for their frauds and scams, especially medicare fraud. Its a damn shame too, because I know soo many people whom need medicare but cannot get on it . . .
www.asiafinest.com
Most of the defendants "were Armenian nationals or immigrants and many maintained substantial ties to Armenia" and criminals there, the indictment said. Couriers would often carry cash proceeds from the fraud back to Armenia. . .
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101013/ap_on_bi_ge/us_medicare_fraud_arrests
A vast network of Armenian gangsters and their associates used phantom health care clinics and other means to try to cheat Medicare out of $163 million, the largest fraud by one criminal enterprise in the program's history, U.S. authorities said Wednesday.
Fox News NewYork
The Guardian: ARMENIAN MAFIA @ Lragir.am Armenian Criminals Smuggled Weapons Grade Uranium For Terrorists @ AGRC
Century of Armenian Diaspora Success Destroyed? @ Armenian Observer
Zhamanak: Owner of Atlantic Café among Armenian criminals in US
October 16, 2010The U.S. police published the names of Armenian criminals and their associates, cheating Medicare out of $163 million, charged with using phantom health care clinics and other means.
According to the information at the Zhamanak daily’s disposal, Poghos Satamyan, the co-owner of Atlantic café in Yerevan, is also among them.
He is also famous for organizing Armenian signer Tata’s concert in the United States.
Interestingly, Satamyan attended the wedding party of Yerevan Chief Police Nersik Nazaryan’s son.
Armenian Mafia targets American Shows
Famous American show host, Uygur and Kasparian, from TYT, were threatened by the Armenian lobby. In their response TYT quickly removed their video "Dozens Arrested For Medicare Fraud".
American freedom is under attack! Wake up America! First they target our medicare now our media!! And what is even more funny is the fact that Kasparian is ethnic Armenian!! Here is the text:
Kasparian: "Dozens of Armenians throughout the United States have recently got arrested for Medicare fraud. Now this is an age-old trick of Armenians. This is what Armenians do. OK. And that’s a gross generalization. And a large majority of these offenders lived in Glendale, California. I am not kidding. That’s a fact.
Uygur: That’s literally true![Chuckling]. By the way, I am amused by the Armenian community Medicare fraud in Glendale.[Imitating an Armenian accent]:“You do Medical fraud? Of course. Who doesn’t do Medicare fraud? Come now!” Is that close to an Armenian accent?
Kasparian: It’s close. So, what these individuals would do is, they would steal the identities of doctors, identities of hundreds of thousands of individuals in the United States and they would make false claims. They would create these phantom health care clinics that don’t even really exist and then bill Medicare for treatments that never happened and then Medicare would send this money to these fake doctors or these doctors that have their identities stolen….
Uygur: Let me give you a little detail how it works. It’s kind of interesting. So, they steal a list of doctors’ names….
Kasparian:…There is shame on two different sides here. Shame on the Armenians and shame on the government for not realizing it until now -- until these Armenians stole $163 million from Medicare [The correct figure is $35 million].
Uygur: You know what? That is a pretty good scam. You gotta give it up to them. They are working up in Glendale.[Chuckling].
Kasparian: And it wasn’t just in Glendale. These are Armenians throughout the country. Like, we got Armenians in New York City, we got Armenians in California, a couple in Ohio, some in New Mexico, some in Florida, all over the place. It’s a massive operation. They’re all connected. They all know what they’re doing. It’s insanity. In fact, officials equated this to the mafia. This is like the Armenian mafia operating in the United States. Part of me felt like I should be a little proud of that, because I am kind of a bad ass, but another part of me of course was humiliated. I feel so bad for the people that are victims of this. Because not only the government gets millions of dollars stolen from them, there are people who have their identity stolen. So these Armenians can sit at home, drive their Rolls Royces, and not do anything.
Uygur: I’m gonna take a little controversial view on this. Obviously, they couldn’t be more wrong -- busted, go to jail, etc. We are not having any of that conversation. On the other hand, it is a little ingenious…. You know what happens! People get greedy. Once you got that scam going, and you haven’t got caught in a long time, you think let’s churn this thing out. Everyone wants a piece of the action. Next thing you know, everybody in Glendale knows, and they all want their cut in it. Of course, there is an ugly side to this. One of the guys I believe you saw in the picture was "vor."
Kasparian: By the way, "vor" means "ass." I’m wondering why all of the news articles refer to him as "vor." . .
Yes, Armenians!
Today it’s all over the news! Millions of dollars have been ripped off from US taxpayers and the Medicare program in 25 states—the perpetrators are Armenian-Americans. Here we go again, another scam to join our growing list of medicare/medicaid and food stamp scams orchestrated by immigrant networks. (Someone really needs to write a whole blog just on these scams!)
From the New York Times:
An Armenian-American crime syndicate stole the identities of doctors and thousands of patients and used them and more than a hundred spurious clinics in 25 states to bill Medicare for more than $100 million for treatments no doctor ever performed and no patient ever received, the federal authorities announced on Wednesday
Prosecutors said the case represented the largest Medicare fraud operation ever carried out by a single group that resulted in criminal charges. The group succeeded in stealing $35 million in Medicare reimbursements, officials said, before the charges were leveled and arrests were made on Wednesday.
The “highly organized massive scheme” is at the heart of a racketeering indictment and other charges unsealed in federal court against 44 people, including a number of members of the Armenian crime group, according to the F.B.I. and federal prosecutors in New York and Georgia.
“With 118 phantom clinics and over $100 million in bogus billings, this group of international gangsters allegedly ran a veritable fraud franchise,” Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan, said in a statement announcing the charges. “As charged, they stole taxpayer dollars earmarked for the elderly and infirm and got away with it, until now.”
Did we take Armenian refugees?
Sure enough! A little scouting around produced this 1988 article, in the New York Times no less, about bringing an emergency 12,000 Armenians here from the Soviet Union that year. I find it interesting that when something goes down, like this fraud bust, no mainstream media reporter ever asks how did all these Armenian gangsters get here in the first place.
Reagan Administration officials report a sharp increase in the number of Armenians trying to leave the Soviet Union, and the State Department has drafted a proposal to admit 12,000 of them to the United States as refugees.
The proposal suggests that President Reagan should begin emergency consultations with Congress so that the United States can take in the Armenians by doubling the maximum number of refugees who may be admitted this year from the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
At the same time, Administration officials said, the State Department is proposing to raise the United States worldwide refugee admissions ceiling to 83,500 for the current fiscal year. That is 15,000 more than the number approved by Mr. Reagan in October.
Refugee numbers are set each year by the President. Under the Refugee Act of 1980, he can change numbers, but must first consult with Congress. Looking for Sources of FundsAdministration officials said they did not know how the Government could pay for processing and resettling the extra refugees. State Department officials estimate the cost at $25 million to $30 million, and they are searching for possible sources of funds.
Guess they found the money somewhere!
Source: Acorcoran on October 14, 2010 : Refugee Resettlement Watch: Massive-Largest-Ever-Medicare-Fraud-Racket-Busted-Involving-Armenians
Kazarian-Armen-Et-Al-Indictment
Defendants in U.S. v. Armen Kazarian, et al.
| Defendant | DOB | Residence |
| ARMEN KAZARIAN a/k/a “Pzo,” a/k/a “Qerop,” | 4/26/1964 | Glendale, CA |
| DAVIT MIRZOYAN | 10/25/1975 | Glendale, CA |
| ROBERT TERDJANIAN a/k/a “Robik, a/k/a “Oleg Kamarine, a/k/a “Robert Vovk,” | 11/14/1974 | Brooklyn, NY |
| ALEKSANDR AVETISYAN a/k/a “Vladimir Arushunyan,” | 2/23/1958 | Sun Valley, CA |
| HERAYER BAGHOUMIAN a/k/a “Vazken,” | 1/1/1956 | Burbank, CA |
| POGOS SATAMYAN | 12/3/1978 | Glendale, CA |
| ARTUR YEPISKOPOSYAN a/k/a “Butania,” | 2/13/1979 | Burbank, CA |
| VAGAN STEPANIAN | 10/31/1957 | Brooklyn, NY |
| VARUJAN AMROYAN a/k/a “Varush,” | 9/16/1960 | Brooklyn, NY |
| JACOB POGOSIAN | 9/11/1975 | La Crescenta, CA |
| KAREN SIMONIAN | 6/19/1977 | Glendale, CA |
| VARTAN BOYZADZHYAN a/k/a “Levon Papikan,” a/k/a “Ararat Bedrousian,” | 7/29/1972 | Glendale, CA |
| ARTUR MANASARIAN | 9/15/1962 | Valley Village, CA |
| GOURGEN MIRIMANIAN a/k/a “Edo,” | 3/16/1964 | Glendale, CA |
| MANUK MURADAKHANYAN a/k/a .”Manch,” | 3/16/1974 | Sherman Oaks, CA |
| LIANA SOGHOYAN | 6/23/1970 | Sherman Oaks, CA |
| TIKRAN TAKVORYAN | 4/23/1966 | Pasadena, CA |
| GAYANE KHATCHATURYAN | 4/6/1974 | N. Hollywood, CA |
| GAGIK KYURKCHYAN | 10/7/1972 | Valley Village, CA |
| ANNA ZAICHIK | 2/28/1956 | Brooklyn, NY |
| KAREN AHARONIAN | 5/29/1977 | Tarzana, CA |
| ARMEN GRIGORIAN | 1016/1970 | Glendale, CA |
| KAREN MARKOSIAN | 3/5/1973 | Burbank, CA |
| ANNA TERMARTIROSYAN | 7/5/1975 | Glendale, CA |
| MICHAEL DOBRUSHIN | 2/22/1957 | Brooklyn, NY |
| SAMVEL HAKOPYAN | 10/24/1974 | N. Hollywood, CA |
| RAFIK TERDJANIAN | 3/6/1940 | Brooklyn, NY |
| Ct | Charge | Defendants | Maximum Penalties |
| 1 | Racketeering Conspiracy | Armen Kazarian Davit Mirzoyan Robert Terdjanian Aleksandr Avetisyan Herayer Baghoumian Pogos Satamyan Artur Yepiskoposyan Vagan Stepanian Varujan Amroyan Jacob Pogosian Karen Simonian Vartan Boyadzhyan Artur Manasarian Gourgen Mirimanian Manuk Muradakhanyan Liana Soghoyan Tikran Takvoryan Gayane Khatchaturyan Gagik Kyurchyan Anna Zaichik Aron Chervin Karen Aharonian | Life imprisonment; fine of $250,000, or twice the pecuniary loss or gain; 3 years of supervised release; $100 mandatory special assessment. |
| 2 | Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud | Armen Kazarian Davit Mirzoyan Robert Terdjanian Aleksandr Avetisyan Herayer Baghoumian Pogos Satamyan Artur Yepiskoposyan Jacob Pogosian Karen Simonian Vartan Boyadzhyan Gourgen Mirimanian Manuk Muradakhanyan Liana Soghoyan Tikran Takvoryan Gayane Khatchaturyan Gagik Kyurchyan Anna Zaichik | 10 years in prison; fine of $250,000, or twice the pecuniary loss or gain; 3 years of supervised release; $100 mandatory special assessment. |
| 3 | Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud | Davit Mirzoyan Robert Terdjanian Artur Yepiskoposyan Vartan Boyadzhyan Gourgen Mirimanian Anna Zaichik Arman Grigorian Anna Termartirosyan Rafik Terjanian | 30 years in prison; a fine of $1,000,000, or twice the gross pecuniary gain or loss; five years of supervised release; $100 mandatory special assessment. |
| 4 | Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering | Davit Mirzoyan Robert Terdjanian Herayer Baghoumian Pogos Satamyan Artur Yepiskoposyan Jacob Pogosian Karen Simonian Manuk Muradakhanyan Arman Grigorian Karen Markosian Anna Termartirosyan Rafik Terjanian | Twenty years in prison; fine of $500,000, or twice the pecuniary loss or gain; 3 years of supervised release; $100 mandatory special assessment. |
| 5 | Conspiracy to Commit Fraud in Connection with Identity Theft | Davit Mirzoyan Robert Terdjanian Herayer Baghoumian Pogos Satamyan Artur Yepiskoposyan Liana Soghoyan Tikran Takvoryan Gayane Khatchaturyan Anna Zaichik | Five years in prison; a fine of $250,000, or twice the pecuniary loss or gain; 3 years of supervised release; $100 mandatory special assessment. |
| 6 | Conspiracy to Commit Credit Card Fraud | Davit Mirzoyan Robert Terdjanian Aleksandr Avetisyan Vagan Stepanian Varujan Amroyan Karen Aharonian Samvel Hakopyan | 10 years in prison; a fine of $250,000, or twice the pecuniary loss or gain; 3 years of supervised release; $100 mandatory special assessment. |
| 7 | Conspiracy to Commit Immigration Fraud | Robert Terdjanian Vagan Stepanian Michael Dobrushin | Five years in prison; a fine of $250,000, or twice the pecuniary loss or gain; 3 years of supervised release; |
Defendants in U.S. v. Aron Chervin, et al.
| Defendant | DOB | Residence |
| ARON CHERVIN | 7/18/1947 | North Brunscwick, NY |
| ROBERT TERDJANIAN | 11/14/1974 | Brooklyn, NY |
| VYACHESLAV DOBRER | 3/22/1960 | Dingman’s Ferry, PA |
| HAROLD PINA | 2/8/1969 | Valley Stream, NY |
| ROSS KUFLIK | 1/19/1958 | DelRay Beach, FL |
| MICHAEL LAMOND | 4/21/1970 | Long Island City, NY |
| VADIM CHERVIN | 3/22/1960 | North Brunswick, NY |
| GALINA VOVK | 3/19/1976 | Brooklyn, NY |
| VALIANTSINA LAHUN | 9/4/1965 | Brooklyn, NY |
| LYNN BRAUNSTEIN | 10/17/1961 | Belle Harbor, NY |
| WILLIAM GIBBS | ||
| YURI ZELINSKY | 6/17/1948 | Brooklyn, NY |
| LUBA GODIN | 8/1/1978 | Brooklyn, NY |
| JUDSON DARIO JUST | 5/3/1962 | Brooklyn, NY |
| BEAGY FRANCOIS | 11/16/1955 | Dacula, GA |
| NATAN PEYSAKOV | 1/30/1970 | Brooklyn, NY |
| MARTA ROMAN | 8/11/1970 | Merrick, NY |
| MILANA NIKHMAN | 12/23/1957 | Staten Island, NY |
| Ct | Charge | Defendants | Maximum Penalties |
| 1 | Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud and Health Care Fraud | ARON CHERVIN | 20 years in prison; 3 years of supervised release; fine of $250,000, or twice the pecuniary loss or gain; $100 mandatory special assessment; forfeiture; restitution |
| 2 | Conspiracy to Sell Protected Medical Information | ARON CHERVIN MARTA ROMAN BEAGY FRANCOIS | 5 years in prison; 3 years of supervised release; $250,000, or twice the pecuniary loss or gain; $100 mandatory special assessment |
| 3 | Conspiracy to Launder Money | ARON CHERVIN ROBERT TERDJANIAN VYACHESLAV DOBRER MICHAEL LAMOND GALINA VOVK LUBA GODIN WILLIAM GIBBS | 20 years in prison; 3 years of supervised release; fine of 500,000, or twice the pecuniary loss or gain; $100 mandatory special assessment; forfeiture |
* POGOS SATAMYAN 12/3/1978 Glendale, CA – Listed on this LinkedIn page as Chief Operating Officer of Seacliff Diagnostics Medical Group, Inc.
* TIKRAN TAKVORYAN 4/23/1966 Pasadena, CA - Arrested and listed as a defendant in a 2009 criminal case involving charges on criminal penalties for acts involving Federal health care programs.
Armenian Organized Crime Grows More Complex
By THOMAS WATKINS - Associated Press Writer
GLENDALE, Calif. -- Endeavor Diagnostics billed itself as a thriving medical laboratory that performed more than $1 million of work for Medicare patients.
When two FBI agents went to inspect it, they found an empty San Fernando Valley office with only a desk and a fax machine. There were no workers, no patients and no biological samples.
Behind the door of the facade were signs tying the operation to a sprawling network of phantom enterprises allegedly set up by Armenian mobsters to try to defraud Medicare of $163 million for services never provided.
Dozens of arrests around the country Wednesday highlighted a criminal demographic rarely seen, but one that officials say is rooted in California and growing in reach and sophistication.
"They are victimizing our systems, they are victimizing business, they are victimizing private citizens," said Glendale police Lt. Steve Davey, who heads up a task force tackling Eurasian crime. "Their ultimate goal is oligarchy - to see if they can infiltrate government."
Few criminal groups can match the sophistication of Armenian scammers, who developed an uncanny savvy for probing weaknesses in government systems and were hailed as heroes when they exploited their Soviet republic homeland, authorities said. They have been known for devising complex white collar schemes such as credit card fraud, identity theft and mortgage fraud.
Indictments released Wednesday in Los Angeles, New York and elsewhere show how various cells, largely working on their own but often sharing techniques, set up fraudulent medical businesses using stolen physician identities.
After becoming licensed Medicare providers and submitting claims, the fake office billed the government, which would pay money to fraudulent bank accounts. Many claims were bogus but sometimes criminals would provide a small service then submit an inflated bill.
In Los Angeles, for example, they would provide a scooter worth about $1,000, but profit after billing Medicare for a top-end electric wheelchair worth six times as much, FBI Supervisory Special Agent Matt McLaughlin said.
The groups have been known to recruit people with a nominal sum to become a fake patient, then bill Medicare for services supposedly rendered.
"It's great camouflage," McLaughlin said. "We have to deconstruct each element to prove a fraud."
Prosecutors also allege that conspirators paid corrupt doctors to carry out unnecessary testing on purported accident victims, then charged the government for the treatment.
In all, $163 million in fraudulent bills were submitted, with Medicare actually paying out $35 million, according to the documents.
The complex operation was allegedly overseen by Armen Kazarian, who melded into Glendale's large Armenian population after arriving as an asylum seeker in 1996 and mostly stayed out of view of the police.
Kazarian, 46, who is in custody in Los Angeles, is known by the Soviet term "thief in law," which is the rough equivalent of a "godfather." Authorities say it is only the second time such a figure, known in Russian as a "vor v zakone," has been arrested in the U.S.
Nearly half of Glendale's 200,000 residents have an Armenian background. Following the 1915 massacre of Armenians in Turkey, a diaspora spread around the globe, with many arriving in Fresno and the East Coast.
Successive waves of immigrants followed major geopolitical upheavals, including the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, and a small Armenian community in Hollywood quickly expanded to Glendale and the surrounding areas.
In the mid-1980s, sons of Armenian immigrants from the Hollywood area banded together to form a gang called Armenian Power to protect themselves against Hispanic gangs. The community initially saw members as vigilante protectors but the group soon morphed into a street gang like any other, carrying out drive-by shootings and other crimes such as kidnappings, drug deals and burglaries, Glendale Officer Rafael Quintero said.
But most crime in the Armenian community is carried out quietly and centers on sophisticated identity theft schemes. Police started picking up on these activities at the end of the 1990s and Glendale's task force was established in 2000, Davey said.
Several police agencies have task forces focused on Eurasian crime but Los Angeles police Lt. Stephen Margolis said this operation illustrates how the law enforcement community overall should pay closer attention.
"The sophistication and the pervasiveness of this type of criminal activity is years in the making," Margolis said. "Hopefully this will serve as a wake up to the extent of the seriousness this problem presents at a national level."
Zaven Kazazian, president of the Los Angeles chapter of the Armenian-American Chamber of Commerce, said much of the crime in the community is carried out by people raised under communist rule in the former Soviet republic of Armenia, where exploiting a corrupt government was seen as fair game.
Prosecutors say the crime ring was known as the Mirzoyan-Terdjanian Organization, named after its principal leaders Davit Mirzoyan, 34, of Glendale and Robert Terdjanian, 35, of Brooklyn.
Most of the 44 people charged are from the Los Angeles area and New York but arrests were also made in Georgia, New Mexico and Ohio.
The seven defendants named in the Los Angeles indictment have all pleaded not guilty. Defendants named in the New York portion of the case had either pleaded not guilty or were due to be arraigned Monday.
A call to Kazarian's defense attorney, Vicken Hagopian, was not immediately returned Friday.
As the "thief-in-law" of the operation, Kazarian was touted by authorities as the big catch. But the role of such "vor v zakones" is more subtle than that of a Mafia boss, Lt. Davey said.
Armenian crime bosses typically are nominated by other criminals and their main task is to mediate disputes between groups.
Though they describe no actual violence, authorities allege Kazarian helped the Mirzoyan-Terdjanian Organization and would use threats to resolve disputes in the U.S., Armenia and other places.
www.macon.com/2010/10/16/1304793/armenian-organized-crime-grows.html
Massive Armenian Fraud Exposed … Again!
By Ergün KIRLIKOVALIThe 33 Chilean miners were not the only ones brought to daylight last week; a massive criminal Armenian immigrant ring defrauding the Medicare by a whopping $135 million was, also. While the former delighted us and uplifted our spirits, the latter shocked and outraged us.
How can one not be incensed? While those gold chain wearing, hairy and smelly thieves were lining up to buy 350,000 dollar sports cars with American taxpayers’ hard-earned money, most American families, faced with job cuts, dwindling incomes, and foreclosures, were dreading to put food on table.
But there is worse. What the Armenian crooks perpetrated has far reaching implications impacting a wide range of policies and programs affecting all of us well into the future. These range from the cost of recent health care reforms, identification theft, and safety of senior citizens, all the way to the security of government archives, abuse of taxpayer funds, and foreign policy influenced by Armenian crooks and terrorists with access to some gullible or corrupt American politicians.
ARE BOXER AND MENENDEZ, RECIPIENTS OF ARMENIAN MONEY, CLEAN?
This is why I think Boxer’s campaign chest must be investigated: “Armenian organization to back Barbara Boxer at November elections”, news.am, October 15, 2010: http://news.am/eng/news/34644.html ; )
“ The committee on political affairs of the Armenian Council of America will back Sen. Barbara Boxer at the elections scheduled for November…The Armenian Council of America made the decision due to close ties of Sen. Boxer with the Armenian community and pro-Armenian activities in the Senate…Barbara Boxer is an advocate of the Armenian Genocide recognition and has repeatedly been the author of relevant bills. She also raised the issue on unblocking of the Armenian border by Turkey. Senators Barbara Boxer and Robert Menendez have jointly placed a “hold” on U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan nominee Matthew Bryza, noting his close ties with Azerbaijan.”
Here is my beef with all this: ambassadors to Turkey and Azerbaijan, both staunch American allies, cannot be appointed, as the vetting process is taken hostage by the Armenian lobby through their proxies in the Senate, Boxer and Menendez. I am wondering, therefore, how much of that dirty Armenian money found its way into the coffers of Boxer, Menendez, Schiff, Pallone, Radanovich, and other passionate “genociders” who bend over backwards to appease the Armenian lobby, even at the cost of sacrificing American interests.
I am in the process of getting a copy of the official indictment. I plan to check the Armenian names against the Armenian donors of Boxer and Menendez, as the Federal Election Commission reports are public. If names match, then Boxer and Menendez must resign immediately for using Armenian fraud money to serve Armenian interests. Whether American interests were hurt or not by their actions does not even matter at that moment, because they will have served the interests of a foreign government (Armenia) without first registering as a foreign agent or lobbyist, thus breaking the law. This goes for Schiff, Pallone, Radanovich, and other bogus “genociders” on the hill.
I appreciate that it could be hard to check, since Boxer has had over 8,000 donors in 2010, and the tricky Armenians use different spelling variations of their names making it much harder to track them down without serious investment of time and resources. But I think FBI should do it to protect the American taxpayer. If FBI finds some of those Armenian crooks in the donor rolls of Boxer, Menendez, or others, then so be it! If they do the crime, they should do the time. Let’s throw the trash out! Impeach them!
If you think all this is far-fetched, then I suggest you think again. See, for example, “Dem donor arrested in Medicare ring”, Politico, October 14, 2010 ( http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1010/Dem_donor_arrested_in_Medicare_ring.html?showall .)
One of the alleged Armenian gangsters arrested in the record-breaking $163 million Medicare fraud scheme was also a major donor to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Pogos Satamyan of Glendale, CA, reportedly arrested today, gave the DCCC $10,000 just this July, according to public records. (Only $10K? What a cheapskate! )
OUTSMARTING THE SYSTEM: A “SKILL” REVERED IN ARMENIAN CULTURE
Armenian fraud is not something new. “Outsmarting the system” seems to be a national pass time among most Armenians. Deception, fraud, lies, in the finest tradition of Andonian of the fake Talaat telegrams fame, should give any fair minded American a clue about the Armenian psyche.
What I wonder is not that organized Armenian fraud makes the news for the millionth time, but did any of this Armenian fraud money, even a cent, found its way into the campaign funds of some gullible and/or corrupt politicians. After all, these politicians sold America’s interests time and again, just for a few dirty Armenian dollars, didn’t they? Shouldn’t we impeach corrupt politicians for siding with Armenian criminals?
ARMENIAN FRAUD AND DECEPTION: A CHRONIC DISEASE
This is not the first case of medical fraud by Armenians in US, nor is it the biggest. For example, just two years ago, in 2008, some 6 Armenians were indicted by the FBI on a $2 million fraud case: http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/080404losangeles2.htm . Here is what was said in the April 4, 2008 report “ Six arrested and charged in connection with $2 million health care fraud ring”:
“ LOS ANGELES - Six men charged with running a crime ring that stole nearly $2 million from federal and private health insurers were arrested here today following a federal and local probe involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) into a health care fraud scheme.
Collectively, the defendants face 62 counts of conspiracy to commit a crime, money laundering and grand theft of personal property. The alleged crimes occurred between March 2005 and September 2006.
‘On a national level, health care fraud continues to milk billions of dollars annually from government-funded health plans and private health insurers,’ District Attorney Steve Cooley said. ‘Health care fraud affects us all. These criminals not only squander health funds for underserved populations who truly warrant subsidized aid, they also affect the average consumer who is hit in the pocket book by fraud-related costs incurred by private health companies.’
Robert Schoch, special agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Office of Investigations in Los Angeles, said ICE will continue to work with its local and federal law enforcement partners to attack and dismantle these kinds of schemes.
‘Aside from the obvious harm to insurers and needy patients, the money siphoned off in fraud schemes like this is often funneled into other forms of criminal enterprise,’ Schoch said.
Those charged in the case are: Karapet Khacheryan, 37; Hovik Joe Altunyan, 30; Edkar Mikirtijyan, 25; Grigor Khorikyan, 29; Vahan E. Harutyunyan, 32; and Smbat Khachtryan, 26. The six men are due to be arraigned at the Criminal Justice Center April 7. Bail is recommended at $1.98 million for each defendant.
The case, which was referred to the District Attorney's Office by ICE and the United States Department of Health and Human Services - Office of the Inspector General, began as a drug and money laundering investigation, later expanding to include health care fraud.
‘Fighting Medicare and Medicaid fraud is a top priority," said Glenn Ferry, Special Agent in Charge for the Los Angeles Region of the Office of Inspector General for the federal Department of Health and Human Services. "We will work tirelessly with our federal and state law enforcement partners to bring those who perpetrate such frauds to justice.’
The men were taken into custody early this morning by federal authorities from residences in North Hollywood, Glendale, and Van Nuys, Calif. A seventh suspect was taken into custody on an unrelated gun charge. Search warrants also were executed at two businesses in Burbank. Of those named in the case, the highest number of charges faced by a single defendant is 31 counts. ..”
It was a coordinated effort The Los Angeles County Health Authority Law Enforcement Task Force (HALT), the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Major Crimes and COPS bureaus, and the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Medical Fraud and Elder Abuse assisted federal agents in this investigation. All defendants faced special allegations because the offenses involved fraud and embezzlement with a pattern of related felony conduct. The special allegations also stemmed from the fact the defendants were suspected of taking more than $500,000, with estimated property losses exceeding more than $1 million.
ARMENIAN THIEVERY HAS DEEP CULTURAL ROOTS
I remember well how back in 1999, we were all shocked to learn that a bunch of Armenian crooks defrauded Medi-Cal (that's California's Medicaid) of $1 billion USD! That's by far the largest medical fraud case in the history of the world: http://articles.latimes.com/1999/dec/08/news/mn-41634
Here is what was reported by Rone Tempest , Los Angeles Times Sacramento Bureau Chief, on December 08, 1999, in his article titled “Medi-Cal Scandal Alarms Armenians”:
“ Culture: Leaders stress that those caught are a tiny minority, and that they may have learned such behavior as a survival skill in former Soviet Union.
Chagrined by the estimated $1-billion Medi-Cal fraud scandal among new immigrants in their community, Armenian church and civic leaders say that an explanation may lie not in Los Angeles, where most of the crime occurred, but in the culture and politics of their homeland in the former Soviet Union.
Vazken Movsesian, parish priest of St. Gregory Armenian Orthodox Church in Pasadena, said members of the largely ethnic Armenian network charged with bilking the state and federal governments using phony medical billings came from a place ‘where the government was the government you cheated from.’ “
Nice try by the Armenian priest to control damage, but unfortunately for Armenians, the organized fraud cases unearthed since this 1999 report shows that the Armenian community supports such illegal activities, just like they supported Armenian terrorism victimizing Turks, both in the Ottoman Empire from 1882-1922 and in the United States 1973 to present. Violence and corruption, the twin evils, seem to find fertile grounds in the Armenian culture.
Armenian Consul General in Los Angeles and Mayor are in jail as we speak for selling fake documents to Armenian murderers and rapists to get a permanent residence in USA, for a mere , $35.000… A bargain!
ARMENIA IN PANIC
Alarmed by the developments, the government of Armenia embarked upon a hastily put together damage control program (See “Armenia to help US investigate Medicare scam”, By AVET DEMURYAN, Associated Press, YEREVAN, Armenia, October 14, 2010: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9IRK2H00.htm . ) Too little, too late.
Armenia now says it will cooperate with the United States in an investigation of Armenian gangsters accused of using bogus health care clinics to cheat Medicare out of $163 million.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Tigran Balayan said today that Armenia was sorry. The operation was reportedly led by captured crime boss, Armen Kazarian, who is known by the Soviet term "thief in law," or "godfather" in English. Here is the rub: a top Armenian police who wanted to remain anonymous apparently told The Associated Press that about 40 ethnic Armenian godfathers operate in Europe, the U.S., Australia and the Middle East. U.S. authorities, who say this is the largest fraud in Medicare’s history, are not amused.
VIDEOS OF ARMENIAN CROOKS AND SWINDLERS AVAILABLE
See “Dozens Charged in $163M Medicare Fraud Scheme”, a CBS, , New York, Oct. 13, 2010: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/10/13/national/main6954223.shtml
Here is a glimpse of what CBS said:
“A vast network of Armenian gangsters and their associates used phantom health care clinics and other means to try to cheat Medicare out of $163 million, the largest fraud by one criminal enterprise in the program's history, U.S. authorities said Wednesday. (Scroll down to watch a "60 Minutes" report on Medicare fraud from earlier this year)
Federal prosecutors in New York and elsewhere charged 73 people. Most of the defendants were captured during raids Wednesday morning in New York City and Los Angeles, but there also were arrests in New Mexico, Georgia and Ohio.
CBS News reports that more than 60 people were in custody as of Wednesday afternoon.
The scheme's scope and sophistication "puts the traditional Mafia to shame," U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said at a Manhattan news conference. "They ran a veritable fraud franchise." ( Read the First Indictment (PDF) , Read the Second Indictment (PDF) )
Unlike other cases involving crooked medical clinics bribing people to sign up for unneeded treatments, the operation was "completely notional," Janice Fedarcyk, head of the FBI's New York office, said in a statement. "The whole doctor-patient interaction was a mirage." (video:
Medicare Fraud: A $60 Billion Crime )
The operation was under the protection of an Armenian crime boss, known in the former Soviet Union as a "vor," prosecutors said. The reputed boss, Armen Kazarian, was in custody in Los Angeles.
Bharara said it was the first time a vor - "the rough equivalent of a traditional godfather" - had been charged in a U.S. racketeering case.
Kazarian, 46, of Glendale, Calif., and two alleged ringleaders - Davit Mirzoyan, 34, also of Glendale, and Robert Terdjanian, 35, of Brooklyn - were named in an indictment unsealed in Manhattan.
Most of the defendants were to appear in court later Wednesday on charges including racketeering conspiracy, bank fraud, money laundering and identity theft.
Authorities began the New York-based investigation after information on 2,900 Medicare patients in upstate New York - including Social Security numbers and dates of birth - were reported stolen.
The defendants in the New York case also had stolen the identities of doctors and set up 118 phantom clinics in 25 states, authorities said. The names were used to submit fake bills for care that was never given, they said.
Some of the phony paperwork was a giveaway: It showed eye doctors doing bladder tests; ear, nose and throat specialists performing pregnancy ultrasounds; obstetricians testing for skin allergies; and dermatologists billing for heart exams…”
In the New York portion of the case, more $100 million in fraudulent bills were submitted and Medicare paid out at least $35 million, sometimes by wiring it to the clinics' banks accounts, according to the investigators. Most of the defendants were reported to be “ Armenian nationals or immigrants” with substantial ties to Armenia and even criminals there, in the indictment. Couriers would often carry cash proceeds from the fraud back to Armenia, it added. Prosecutors were reportedly seeking forfeiture of real estate in Las Vegas; Palm Springs, Calif.; and elsewhere, and of expensive cars like a 2007 Maserati and a 2006 Jaguar.
***
This is far from over as the saga of Armenian thieves, crooks, swindlers, fast talkers, and genocide peddlers continues…
Stay tuned !
Responses
1) If these individuals are naturalized Americans the fraud is even further evidence that American citizenship obtained to commit crimes should be revocable.
— EdnaTN
2) Thank you, thank you, thank you! It’s about time these thieves are exposed. A prison sentence, which includes room and board and entertainment, (paid for by the taxpayers of America), is not bad enough for them. There has to be a way to make them cough up the money they swallowed! How easy it is to steal millions of dollars, go to prison for a few years, their families luxuriating in the spoils, and then when released, spend the rest of their lives in luxury.
I hope the Social Security rolls are examined for fraud as well as SSI. These programs were created to help the needy, not to foster a “get rich easily” plan!
— Carolyn
3) This is unbelievable. There used to be a time when people emigrated to the U.S to make honest living. Now they come here looking for short cuts and stealing from this country.
— Will
4)I left my suburban Los Angeles neighborhood because of the Armenian pimps and drug dealers that had invaded my building. The police did nothing. They run rampant all over Los Angeles and get away with it. Lovely.
— GlendaLane
5)why are some readers perturbed at the mention of the crime syndicate’s national/ethnic background?
that’s relevant information. it’s a fact, part of the story.
especially since the funds were being filtered out of the country.
the US ought to pressure the Armenian govt to return the funds. in exchange, we can return their criminals to them.
— elliott ness
6) We ere a lot better off when these kind of people where trapped in the former Soviet Union. There they had the kind of government they deserved. These individuals are not worthy of Democracy.
— John
7) Grish
With the help of same criminal elements of Armenia, money laundry businesses transferred out side of Armenia, for much better results..Soviet era corrupted mentality is well preserved within Armenia’s top ranking government officials!!
This is why Armenia, ranked 120th among 180 most corrupted nations of the world in 2010..
8) Gina
What a shame. I cannot find the right words to express my anger. I hope they rot in jail for the rest of their lives.
9) Robert
What can I say…you’ve all earned the reputation which the world knows you all for! But, as usual, the Armenian diaspora will find a con job approach to somehow try to blame Turkey and/or Azerbaijan, while at the same time trying to spin the facts so that they (Armenians) will be the usual “innocent and pure victims” of the barbaric Turk!
10) Kirlikovali
Armenian fraud is not something new. What I wonder is if any of this Armenian fraud money, even a cent, found its way into the koffers of corrupt ploticians. After all, these politicians sold America’s interests time and again, just for a few Armenian dollars, didn’t they?
11) Grish
Armenia’s corruption disease, spreading like a viruses around the globe…these shameless Armenians destroying other Armenians reputation in US, where they set up as hard working, smart, intellectual people, over a century within US population..I wonder when Armenia’s government finally will put up an “end” for corruption in Armenia…I wonder sometimes how these criminals get Armenian passport and emigrate out!!
12) Preston
The blame rest squarely on Serzhigs shoulders. The other two thugs, LTP and Kocharyan enriched themselves and left office. Serzh is doing absolutely nothing…why? because he too has to amass wealth and fortune before leaving office. How could someone who was poor, becomes president and suddenly he is playing with millions of dollars? You see the problem in Armenia is so severe, if it continues unchecked, corruption will overtake Armenians government, and Armenia will become like Mexico is today..a lawless land of thieves.
I am more scared of corrupt and murderous regime and civil servants in Armenia, then the might of all world powers
13) george
Based on stories of Armenians in the U.S., Armenian organized crime is supported by the Armenian government after independence. It is a shame that a government can be so corrupt and to export their criminal activities to the rest of the world. I have heard it is the organized crime running that country. The few Armenians I know are honest, decent and hard working individuals that I can trust fully.
14) Mos
I wish they could go arrest all the mafia criminals in Armenia that rule and steal from the country....
15) Levon
They won't get solitary confinement for this, and they'll end up in Federal prison, if they don't get out of it. None of them will get anything close to 100 years. I'd say if their lawyers do their jobs correctly, the worst would be around 20 years in Fed confinement.
It all really depends on their priors, and how aggressively the prosecutor(s) will push the charges. Many times the initial charges are extremely exaggerated to instill fear onto the defendants with the hope of doing a quick plea-deal and not even going into formal trial. Plus, there is a difference between violent and non-violent offenders. Non-violent offenders usually get off easier (might get the same sentence, but will usually parole earlier)
16)Sarkis
We are no longer proud to say I am Armenian. There are 20,000 Armenians in prison in California
17) yasha
Please do not send them back to Armenia, we have a lot of people like them here. example is The generals, who made the Armenian army a terrible mess, continue to expand their business, the Zhamanak daily writes.
Major-General Arshaluys Paytian, the deputy chief of the Armenian army’s General Staff has already expanded his business abroad.
According to the source, he opened a restaurant in Odessa. He runs many businesses in Armenia as well. Yerevan-Vanadzor minibus route, an elite business-center building and wood processing companies belong to him. The constructions on the books of the Armenian Defense Ministry also belong to him.
“Meanwhile, the soldiers are sick or just killed in the army he leads,” the newspaper stresses.
http://news.am/eng/news/34168.html
18) Mark
Not only that Armenian Consul General in Los Angeles and Mayor is in Jail as we speak for selling fake documents to Armenian murderers and rapists to get a permenent residence in USA, price? $35.000
19) Wilson
We should impeach Boxer and Menendez for using Armenian fraud money in a federal election campaign. These corrupt politicians used the Armenian criminals' money to attack a US ally, Turkey.
20) bob
Well, this is not for a first time - Armenians do it again, again and again. How long Americans can tolerate it ??
Russian classic PUSHKIN told for Armenians: Armenian you are thieves, cowards and slaves.
21) Tony_Lee
I was told by an Armenian friend of mine back in the 80′s that they had to put up signs in communities where the Armenian “refugees” settled. The signs, in Armenian, read “It is agaisnt the law to steal”.
22) Via Refugee Resettlement Watch, quoting the New York Times:
“An Armenian-American crime syndicate stole the identities of doctors and thousands of patients and used them and more than a hundred spurious clinics in 25 states to bill Medicare for more than $100 million for treatments no doctor ever performed and no patient ever received, the federal authorities announced on Wednesday.Prosecutors said the case represented the largest Medicare fraud operation ever carried out by a single group that resulted in criminal charges.”
23) Here’s the important bit from Refugee Resettlement Watch:
“Did we take Armenian refugees?
Sure enough! A little scouting around produced this 1988 article, in the New York Times no less, about bringing an emergency 12,000 Armenians here from the Soviet Union that year. I find it interesting that when something goes down, like this fraud bust, no mainstream media reporter ever asks how did all these Armenian gangsters get here in the first place.”
Look, I’m all for the idea that our country is a beacon of freedom that welcomes those fleeing oppression. That’s a kinda big chuck of our national identity.
But sometimes I sure get the feeling that we are too trusting, and folks take advantage of our cultural wish to do good.
24) Outsmarting The System: A “skill” Revered In Armenian Culture
Armenian fraud is not something new.“Outsmarting the system” seems to be a national pass time among most Armenians. Deception, fraud, lies, in the finest tradition of Andonian of the fake Talaat telegrams fame, should give any fair minded American a clue about the Armenian psyche.
What I wonder is not that organized Armenian fraud makes the news for the millionth time, but did any of this Armenian fraud money, even a cent, found its way into the campaign funds of some gullible and/or corrupt politicians. After all, these politicians sold America’s interests time and again, just for a few dirty Armenian dollars, didn’t they? Shouldn’t we impeach corrupt politicians for siding with Armenian criminals?
This is not the first case of medical fraud by Armenians in US, nor is it the biggest. For example, just two years ago, in 2008, some 6 Armenians were indicted by the FBI on a $2 million fraud case:
http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/artic... . Here is what was said in the April 4, 2008 report “ Six arrested and charged in connection with $2 million health care fraud ring”:
25) When caught,they can always blame the Turk.
When taught that they are perennial victims,
there is a ready made excuse.
26) Are you upset that Armenian crooks are more talented than your SSK thieves?
But they can not even match a nation who still sit on the spoils of a Genocide with a TURKUM DOGRUYUM smirk on their faces.
27) Armenian Thievery Has Deep Cultural Roots
I remember well how back in 1999, we were all shocked to learn that a bunch of Armenian crooks defrauded Medi-Cal (that's California's Medicaid) of $1 billion USD! That's by far the largest medical fraud case in the history of the world: http://articles.latimes.com/1999/dec/08/news/ ...
Here is what was reported by Rone Tempest , Los Angeles Times Sacramento Bureau Chief, on December 08, 1999, in his article titled “Medi-Cal Scandal Alarms Armenians”:
“ Culture: Leaders stress that those caught are a tiny minority, and that they may have learned such behavior as a survival skill in former Soviet Union.
Chagrined by the estimated $1-billion Medi-Cal fraud scandal among new immigrants in their community, Armenian church and civic leaders say that an explanation may lie not in Los Angeles, where most of the crime occurred, but in the culture and politics of their homeland in the former Soviet Union.
Vazken Movsesian, parish priest of St. Gregory Armenian Orthodox Church in Pasadena, said members of the largely ethnic Armenian network charged with bilking the state and federal governments using phony medical billings came from a place ‘where the government was the government you cheated from.’“
Nice try by the Armenian priest to control damage, but unfortunately for Armenians, the organized fraud cases unearthed since this 1999 report shows that the Armenian community supports such illegal activities, just like they supported Armenian terrorism victimizing Turks, both in the Ottoman Empire from 1882-1922 and in the United States 1973 to present.
Violence and corruption, the twin evils, seem to find fertile grounds in the Armenian culture.
Armenian Consul General in Los Angeles and Mayor are in jail as we speak for selling fake documents to Armenian murderers and rapists to get a permanent residence in USA, for a mere ,$35.000… A bargain!
Armenian Criminals Smuggled Weapons Grade Uranium For Terrorists
Armenian Criminals Go Sophisticated, Hi-Tech and… NuclearNovember 8, 2010
The Armenian Observer
Armenian criminals are becoming increasingly sophisticated and hi-tech, with the recent list of adventures including a $160 Million Medicare fraud in U.S., 29 million strong botnet of virus-inflicted computers around the world and now an attempt to sell 18 grams of weapon-grade, highly enriched uranium.
Highly enriched uranium was smuggled from Armenia to Georgia in a lead-lined cigarette packet in March. Two men involved in transporting the substance were arrested in April.
In a closed hearing, Sumbat Tonayan, a former dairy factory owner and Hrant Ohanian, a retired nuclear physicist from a science institute in Armenia, pleaded guilty to smuggling the 90 per cent-enriched uranium from the Armenian capital Yerevan to Tbilisi. They face 10 years in jail. It remains unclear whether the 18g of uranium contained in the cigarette packet was a sample of a larger shipment, which has yet to be located.
Before his arrest, Tonoyan suggested to an undercover agent that he had more uranium to sell. Investigators are now working to determine the origins of the radioactive material.
The Guardian: ARMENIAN MAFIA
Highly enriched uranium that could be used to make a nuclear bomb is on sale on the black market along the fringes of the former Soviet Union, according to evidence emerging from a secret trial in Georgia.
Two Armenians, a businessman and a physicist, have pleaded guilty to smuggling highly enriched uranium (HEU) into Georgia in March, stashing it in a lead-lined package on a train from Yerevan to Tbilisi.
Georgia's president, Mikheil Saakashvili, informed other heads of state of the sting operation at a nuclear summit in Washington in April, but no details about the case have been made public until now. The trial has been conducted behind closed doors to protect the operational secrecy of Georgia's counter-proliferation unit, officials said. But investigators have given the Guardian an exclusive first-hand account of the case.
It reveals that the critical ingredient for making a nuclear warhead is available on the black market and is reasonably easy to smuggle past a ring of expensive US-funded radiation sensors along the borders of the former Soviet Union. What is not clear is how much nuclear material is in circulation and whether any has already been bought by extremist groups.
The US has made the prevention of nuclear terrorism its national security priority. Barack Obama persuaded 50 world leaders at the April summit to pledge to secure all vulnerable nuclear material within four years.
Billions of dollars have been spent upgrading security at nuclear sites around the globe, particularly in Russia, which has an estimated 700 tonnes of HEU in hundreds of facilities. But it is unclear how much has already been stolen. 'The question is: of what iceberg are we seeing the tip?' said Matthew Bunn, a Harvard expert and former White House science adviser, who compiles an annual assessment of the nuclear terrorism threat titled Securing the Bomb.
The uranium sample that Sumbat Tonoyan and Hrant Ohanyan were peddling is thought to have been stolen several years ago. US tests have confirmed it is 89.4% enriched, usable in a nuclear warhead. The Armenians only had 18 grams, but had been told by their supplier in Armenia that much more was available. They smuggled it into Georgia by train in a cigarette box lined with lead to fool radiation sensors at the border. Tonoyan, a 63-year-old who once ran a successful dairy business but gambled away his fortune, and Ohanyan, a 59-year-old scientist at the Yerevan Institute of Physics, had arranged to meet their buyer in a hotel in the Georgian capital on 11 March. They thought they were selling their 18g sample to a representative of an Islamist group as a precursor to a bigger consignment. But the buyer was an undercover police officer.
It is the third time in seven years HEU has been intercepted in Georgia. There have been 21 seizures or attempted thefts of weapons-grade material, uranium or plutonium, in the region since the Soviet Union collapsed. In every case the material seized had not been missed and mostly the theft was by an insider.
'There has never been a good physical inventory. Accounting rules in the Soviet Union were not designed with an internal threat in mind,' said Elena Sokova, of the Monterey Institute of International Studies. 'No one registered that this material was missing and we still don't know whether other material went missing.'
'Most likely, the materials were stolen in the mid- or early 1990s when a big amount of material disappeared. It's hidden somewhere and from time to time, someone is trying to find new buyers,' said Archil Pavlenishvili, head of Georgia's radioactive materials investigation team. 'We think that the game is not over. There will be more attempts.'
What is Highly Enriched Uranium?
The level of enrichment in uranium refers to the concentration of U-235, its most fissile isotope. The higher the concentration the easier it is to trigger a chain reaction. Highly enriched uranium (HEU) refers to anything above 20%.
What does weapons-grade mean?
To make a nuclear weapon small enough to transport anywhere, you need HEU that is about 90% enriched.
How much weapons-grade uranium do you need to make a bomb?
It depends what kind of bomb you are making - but to build a crude device you would need about 50kg (110lbs) to achieve critical mass. You can also make a bomb out of plutonium, but such a bomb is harder to build, and it is more dangerous to handle.
How easy is it to smuggle?
It is surprisingly easy and safe to handle. It is so mildly radioactive that small amounts can be held with bare hands or smuggled in an ordinary bag. A minimal amount of shielding, with lead for example, would stop it triggering a radiation sensor.
How much is unaccounted for?
Nobody knows, but in the chaos following the collapse of the Soviet Union, hundreds of tons of HEU was kept in hundreds of sites, some with absurdly little security. In one case, a Russian naval officer walked through a hole in the fence at a military base, snapped the padlock on a shed, put several kilograms of HEU in his backpack, before walking out unchallenged. A military prosecutor concluded that "potatoes were guarded better".
Why Nuclear Smuggling Matters
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20 comments:
1- What a shame that some "well educated smart (?) thieves" put a whole nation as a race into shame! Apparently, milking and cheating within the community was not productive and they had to swindle the tax payers money, who welcomed them as immigrants.
2- How can anyone separate "stolen money" from "earned money"?
Who can say how much of this swindled cash, found its way to ANCA, AAA or purchase of "genocide advocates" through political philanthropy?
3- Armenian Government will cooperate against fraud! Kiss my hand... May be they will be checking, why their share was not properly paid! They will put up again some show of moral and ethical values, to cover up their own team corruption.
4- My impression about Armenians as an ethnic group or race, is not changed!. Every race, group, tribe have the very good few ones, a large decent majority and a few crooks or criminals and no one notices until you are caught. The big swindlers with top positions are still to be uncovered and their dirty underwear exposed!
Aya
The Republic of Armenia has agreed to help the USA investigate the accused and apologized for the scam.
Full stop
Why should us be ashamed in this corrupt and unfair world? Turks have destroyed an entire nation and they are not at ALL ashamed.
Moreover their officials state that their nation is clean like the sun. We must be proud as a nation who survived a genocide and manage to live in foreign countries, with foreign people and create a future for their families and children.
Maybe this is a good thing, the corrupt politicians own mafia network is being dismantled.
Time for Robert Kocharyan next?
If you do the math between 73 people and a Medicare payout of 35 million, this is not as big of a deal as its made out to be.
Its interesting that there is never any mention of money swindled by the WASP and J folks up in the top, Chaney alone came out with at least 2 billion.
Turks please provide us with your campaign contribution and promotion to fight against the truth.
Eddo: Seen this?
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Armenia's Authorities Have Ties With World Mafia: Levon Zurabyan - 15.10.10, Tert.am
Armenia is over corrupted and the actions by the Armenian elite can be considered as robbery, coordinator of opposition alliance Armenian National Congress (HAK) Levon Zurabyan said at a rally held near the Matenadaran today.
"Armenia has seen quite interesting developments recently. Armenia is overcorrected. The elite is acting through robbery and is using it for its personal enrichment," said Mr Zurabyan.
Further he mentioned that Armenia's elite has ties with the world mafia network.
"Mafia's activities are being revealed all over the world," said he.
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@ Teda : you are giving a caricatural example of a contradiction frequently present in Armenian nationalist statements: « Turks have destroyed an entire nation and they are not at ALL ashamed. [...] We must be proud as a nation who survived a genocide » A nation cannot be destroyed entirely and survive.
It is all the governments fault because if they were smarter and payed more attention this will never have happened and this has been happening for some time because 160m did not come over night,
All I can say is props to them for beating the system.
The sad part is they are arrested but their families can enjoy the greens.
Armenian consul General of Los Angeles (ex now) is facing years in Prison for selling fake documents to Armenian murderers, rapists, thieves for $35.000 each so that they can become a US residence and commit their crime right next door to you, when will take back our city of Glendale and remove that sign in Hollywood saying little Armenia once for all.
Wake up America next Armenian criminal moving right next door to you
Well US is screwed at the hands of LA Armenian mafia, and prostitutes like Kardashians
At least in Europe the reputation of Armenians are relatively clean, especially in France where they are well respected.
Actually, in Vienna for example, Georgians are infamous for their mafia activities and along with the Turks they are despised there, though Armenians are respected.
5 or 10 years ago when someone asked me or you "What nationality are you & we said Armenian", they were interested in learning about us.
Now when we say we are Armenian, they already know about the mafia, drugs, the shooting of Nercess & so on...
Sen. Barbara Boxer’s (d-Calif.) is delaying the decision by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee of Mr. Matt Bryza’s as U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan because she is fighting for Armenian Genocide legislation.
I wonder how much of the fraud money has made it into her dirty hands?
I could care less what some dumb American or Russian thinks about Armenians.
They did some fraud ok, look at some American criminals who rape and kill their own children. Or all the sadistic serial criminals that have been American. When it comes to crime, America has a much, much worse reputation hands down.
If anything this shows how ingenious and dangerous Armenians can be......and a message that Armenians are done playing nice.
You (the world) allow blockade of people, what you expect, flowers?
I say too bad they got caught....screw the system.
Whenever one judges an entire nation by few that only shows his level of intelligence, furthermore, i have one thing to say to all those who tie any criminal case with an entire nation RACISTS and people with low IQ.
Money from fraud funding legal and official Armenian business? Figures that some Turks, (not all) would say that, these are the ones the deny the past, perhaps because the truth hurts them or perhaps of ignorance.
Not all Armenians are criminals, and not all criminals are Armenian.
I am Armenian, and proud of it, I am a high ranking State employee, my sister is with law enforcement, we have attorneys in the family as well as a judge. Now, do you think we do fraud too? Why not, we are Armenian too.
Ignorance is the absense of educatioin and knowledge.
Ok, Lets not be racist. There are millions of law abiding, god fearing Armenian people in the USA WHO WORK HARD and are embarrassed by these idiots such as I am.
A good first step. Now they need to investigate the Armenian Mafia that runs the bureaucracy of Glendale, especially social services where benefits are automatically given if you're Armenian, but if not, good luck while you rot in the waiting room. this has been noted in local papers, but the authorities do nothing.
Many of the recent Armenian immigrant males are just plain nasty thugs.
They usually don't work yet manage to drive around Glendale in high-end luxury cars (usually Mercedes) all with no visible means of income.
It is no secret to longtime Glendale residents that many Armenians are also involved in insurance and welfare scams.
They came from a poor country to the land of the free and the stupid that allows these thugs and crooks to thrive.
It's all our fault for allowing these criminal immigrants to enter our country and thrive at our expense.
Now people will know how the financial proceeds come from the advocacy of the "so-called" genocide, medicare fraud and all kinds of frauds by Glendale "Rabiz" drug dealers. If Eastern Turkey is a part of Armenia, then we can say Glendale, Burbank, North Hollywood, Boston, Watertown, Beirut, Marsellies should be a part of Armenia.
As this blog so eloquently and intelligently proves, the Armenian community is capable of and responsible for solving some of these issues, at least on a local level.
Stop being so sensitive and use your famous national pride to combat what is the real genocide of your people.
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