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CAFESJIAN ACCUSES EMPLOYEE OF THEFT
DAN BROWNING
Minneapolis Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/local/146869695.html
April 10 2012
The namesake of a historic carousel in St. Paul's Como Park alleges
that a trusted employee, who's suing him for back wages, embezzled
millions over the years.
A former West Publishing Co. executive who has spent his retirement
years as a patron of the arts and promoter of Armenian causes has
accused a longtime employee of embezzling millions of dollars from
him and his companies.
Gerard Cafesjian, 86, now living in Naples, Fla., made the accusations
in federal lawsuit he filed Monday in St. Paul. The suit came as a
reply to a lawsuit filed last month by a former employee, John Joseph
Waters Jr., 55, of Eden Prairie.
Waters' suit, filed without an attorney, alleges that Cafesjian has
become increasingly paranoid, miserly and vindictive as he has aged,
and stiffed him out of more than $5 million in salary.
"Waters believes that Cafesjian, angry with Waters over Waters'
[2009] departure from the day-to-day operations of the Cafesjian Family
Office, seeking to avoid paying his outstanding obligations to Waters,
fearful of the sensitive and confidential information Waters possesses
regarding Cafesjian, and bitter over the poor performance of the
Cafesjian Holdings subsequent to Waters' departure, is intentionally
working to cause harm to Waters and to Waters' reputation," he wrote
in his suit.
Cafesjian, the primary benefactor of the historic State Fair carousel
that now bears his name in Como Park, fired back in a counterclaim
against Waters and his wife, Cheri Kuhn Waters.
"Waters initiated this lawsuit in an audacious gambit to rationalize
his illegal diversion of Mr. Cafesjian's funds," the suit says. The
suit, filed by Andrew Luger of the Greene Espel law firm in
Minneapolis, says that Waters exploited his position of trust to
embezzle nearly $3 million over five years.
Cafesjian alleges that Waters also may have engaged in tax fraud,
money laundering and illegal structuring of banking transactions to
conceal the alleged theft.
The FBI is investigating the allegations.
Waters started working for Cafesjian at West in 1994, when Cafesjian
oversaw sales and marketing. He says Cafesjian reaped about $300
million from his shares in West when Thomson Corp., now Thomson
Reuters, bought the company in 1996.
Waters worked for Cafesjian's "family office" from mid-1998 until he
quit in March 2009, though he continued doing odd tasks for Cafesjian
until the middle of last year.
Over the years, Waters has represented Cafesjian in business deals
in Armenia and elsewhere around the world. He said he also served
as Cafesjian's point man on a project to build a museum about the
Armenian genocide. The museum, in Washington, D.C., was stalled by
litigation in 2008.
Cafesjian's lawsuit says that after Waters quit in 2009, his
replacement found previously unknown bank accounts and discovered
the alleged embezzlement.
An investigation found that from July 2004 through April 2009, Waters
transferred $2,987,148 of Cafesjian's funds into an account Waters
controlled and then withdrew the money for his own use, the suit says.
Cafesjian alleges that Waters made numerous cash withdrawals on
consecutive days in amounts below $10,000, "a pattern that appears to
be illegal structuring," the suit says. The money was then deposited
into accounts held by Waters or by Waters and his wife, it says.
Banking regulations require that cash transactions of $10,000 be
reported. It is a crime to deliberately conduct transactions to avoid
detection by the IRS, law enforcement or regulators.
From: Baghdasarian
DAN BROWNING
Minneapolis Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/local/146869695.html
April 10 2012
The namesake of a historic carousel in St. Paul's Como Park alleges
that a trusted employee, who's suing him for back wages, embezzled
millions over the years.
A former West Publishing Co. executive who has spent his retirement
years as a patron of the arts and promoter of Armenian causes has
accused a longtime employee of embezzling millions of dollars from
him and his companies.
Gerard Cafesjian, 86, now living in Naples, Fla., made the accusations
in federal lawsuit he filed Monday in St. Paul. The suit came as a
reply to a lawsuit filed last month by a former employee, John Joseph
Waters Jr., 55, of Eden Prairie.
Waters' suit, filed without an attorney, alleges that Cafesjian has
become increasingly paranoid, miserly and vindictive as he has aged,
and stiffed him out of more than $5 million in salary.
"Waters believes that Cafesjian, angry with Waters over Waters'
[2009] departure from the day-to-day operations of the Cafesjian Family
Office, seeking to avoid paying his outstanding obligations to Waters,
fearful of the sensitive and confidential information Waters possesses
regarding Cafesjian, and bitter over the poor performance of the
Cafesjian Holdings subsequent to Waters' departure, is intentionally
working to cause harm to Waters and to Waters' reputation," he wrote
in his suit.
Cafesjian, the primary benefactor of the historic State Fair carousel
that now bears his name in Como Park, fired back in a counterclaim
against Waters and his wife, Cheri Kuhn Waters.
"Waters initiated this lawsuit in an audacious gambit to rationalize
his illegal diversion of Mr. Cafesjian's funds," the suit says. The
suit, filed by Andrew Luger of the Greene Espel law firm in
Minneapolis, says that Waters exploited his position of trust to
embezzle nearly $3 million over five years.
Cafesjian alleges that Waters also may have engaged in tax fraud,
money laundering and illegal structuring of banking transactions to
conceal the alleged theft.
The FBI is investigating the allegations.
Waters started working for Cafesjian at West in 1994, when Cafesjian
oversaw sales and marketing. He says Cafesjian reaped about $300
million from his shares in West when Thomson Corp., now Thomson
Reuters, bought the company in 1996.
Waters worked for Cafesjian's "family office" from mid-1998 until he
quit in March 2009, though he continued doing odd tasks for Cafesjian
until the middle of last year.
Over the years, Waters has represented Cafesjian in business deals
in Armenia and elsewhere around the world. He said he also served
as Cafesjian's point man on a project to build a museum about the
Armenian genocide. The museum, in Washington, D.C., was stalled by
litigation in 2008.
Cafesjian's lawsuit says that after Waters quit in 2009, his
replacement found previously unknown bank accounts and discovered
the alleged embezzlement.
An investigation found that from July 2004 through April 2009, Waters
transferred $2,987,148 of Cafesjian's funds into an account Waters
controlled and then withdrew the money for his own use, the suit says.
Cafesjian alleges that Waters made numerous cash withdrawals on
consecutive days in amounts below $10,000, "a pattern that appears to
be illegal structuring," the suit says. The money was then deposited
into accounts held by Waters or by Waters and his wife, it says.
Banking regulations require that cash transactions of $10,000 be
reported. It is a crime to deliberately conduct transactions to avoid
detection by the IRS, law enforcement or regulators.
From: Baghdasarian