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ON MEDIA AGENDA: DO ARMENIAN TOP OFFICIALS HAVE A HAND IN FINANCIAL FRAUD IN UNITED STATES?
By Naira Hayrumyan
ArmeniaNow
21.10.10 | 13:11
Analysis
Bharara said the top members of the group had substantial ties
to Armenia.
Allegations about links between a recently busted Armenian American
syndicate over a large-scale medical insurance fraud and authorities of
Armenia has been one of the central subjects in Armenian media of late.
The opposition insists that Armenian authorities had patronized the
criminals, while pro-government representatives brush aside similar
allegations.
Dozens of ethnic Armenians were arrested in New York, Los Angeles and
elsewhere in the United States last week on charges of filing some $100
million in fake claims to a U.S. government health insurance program,
known as Medicare. Some of the members of the suspected criminal group
are known to be citizens of Armenia. And the suspected ringleader,
Armen Kazarian, is known as a top crime figure in former Soviet
countries enjoying a "vor v zakone" (or criminal underworld lord)
status and goes by the nickname Pzo.
District attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara
said the top members of the group had substantial ties to Armenia,
regularly visited the South Caucasus country, buying property there
with the funds illegally acquired in the United States.
Armenia's opposition newspapers wrote that Pzo was a "guest of honor"
at the wedding of former president Robert Kocharyan's son Sedrak. But
on October 18, the office of Kocharyan denied that information.
A spokesman for President Serzh Sargsyan's Republican Party of
Armenia also denied the opposition media's allegations of links
between Kazarian and the current president.
The Zhamanak daily newspaper, meanwhile, has also alleged close ties
between Kazarian and deputy head of the Nubarashen penitentiary Serob
Harutyunyan. Haykakan Zhamanak - Armenia's extremist oppositional
newspaper - quoted its sources as saying that 15 FBI agents have
arrived in Armenia to investigate the activities of the criminal
group in Armenia. They reportedly intend to find out who has been
making investments using the stolen money and in which areas.
Karabakh's former foreign minister Arman Melikyan says that exposing
an Armenian criminal group will have a negative impact on the process
of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement.
At a press conference on October 19 Melikyan suggested that in the
near future the U.S. might try to exert serious pressure on the top
echelons of power in Armenia.
"Huge amounts of money have been stolen from the [U.S.] state budget.
Logically, the American side will freeze the bank deposits of our
current and former representatives of the power elite involved in
corrupt activities," he said. He also noted that in this case the
Armenian government may resort to concessions in the Nagorno-Karabakh
problem.
Member of Parliament from the ruling Republican Party Hovhannes
Sahakyan believes that the exposure of the group cannot affect the
process of the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement. In his view, this fact
perhaps may somewhat hurt the interests of honest Armenians living
in the United States.
Artashes Geghamyan, the leader of the National Unity Party, thinks
that it is the Turkish- Azerbaijani propaganda and the opposition in
Armenia that has used the row for their purposes.
From: A. Papazian
By Naira Hayrumyan
ArmeniaNow
21.10.10 | 13:11
Analysis
Bharara said the top members of the group had substantial ties
to Armenia.
Allegations about links between a recently busted Armenian American
syndicate over a large-scale medical insurance fraud and authorities of
Armenia has been one of the central subjects in Armenian media of late.
The opposition insists that Armenian authorities had patronized the
criminals, while pro-government representatives brush aside similar
allegations.
Dozens of ethnic Armenians were arrested in New York, Los Angeles and
elsewhere in the United States last week on charges of filing some $100
million in fake claims to a U.S. government health insurance program,
known as Medicare. Some of the members of the suspected criminal group
are known to be citizens of Armenia. And the suspected ringleader,
Armen Kazarian, is known as a top crime figure in former Soviet
countries enjoying a "vor v zakone" (or criminal underworld lord)
status and goes by the nickname Pzo.
District attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara
said the top members of the group had substantial ties to Armenia,
regularly visited the South Caucasus country, buying property there
with the funds illegally acquired in the United States.
Armenia's opposition newspapers wrote that Pzo was a "guest of honor"
at the wedding of former president Robert Kocharyan's son Sedrak. But
on October 18, the office of Kocharyan denied that information.
A spokesman for President Serzh Sargsyan's Republican Party of
Armenia also denied the opposition media's allegations of links
between Kazarian and the current president.
The Zhamanak daily newspaper, meanwhile, has also alleged close ties
between Kazarian and deputy head of the Nubarashen penitentiary Serob
Harutyunyan. Haykakan Zhamanak - Armenia's extremist oppositional
newspaper - quoted its sources as saying that 15 FBI agents have
arrived in Armenia to investigate the activities of the criminal
group in Armenia. They reportedly intend to find out who has been
making investments using the stolen money and in which areas.
Karabakh's former foreign minister Arman Melikyan says that exposing
an Armenian criminal group will have a negative impact on the process
of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement.
At a press conference on October 19 Melikyan suggested that in the
near future the U.S. might try to exert serious pressure on the top
echelons of power in Armenia.
"Huge amounts of money have been stolen from the [U.S.] state budget.
Logically, the American side will freeze the bank deposits of our
current and former representatives of the power elite involved in
corrupt activities," he said. He also noted that in this case the
Armenian government may resort to concessions in the Nagorno-Karabakh
problem.
Member of Parliament from the ruling Republican Party Hovhannes
Sahakyan believes that the exposure of the group cannot affect the
process of the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement. In his view, this fact
perhaps may somewhat hurt the interests of honest Armenians living
in the United States.
Artashes Geghamyan, the leader of the National Unity Party, thinks
that it is the Turkish- Azerbaijani propaganda and the opposition in
Armenia that has used the row for their purposes.
From: A. Papazian