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IS ARMENIA'S CRIMINAL CASE AGAINST FORMER FOREIGN MINISTER OSKANIAN WITH MERITS OR POLITICALLY MOTIVATED?
By Appo Jabarian
Executive Publisher/Managing Editor
USA Armenian Life Magazine
http://www.armenianlife.com/2012/06/13/is-armenia%E2%80%99s-criminal-case-against-former-foreign-minister-oskanian-with-merits-or-politically-motivated/
June 13, 2012
A debate is raging on throughout Armenia and the Diaspora on whether
this week's criminal investigation of Republic of Armenia's Former
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian has any merits or it is politically
motivated.
Mr. Oskanian and his Civilitas Foundation are accused of failing to
report US$2 million donations received from the sale of 100% shares
of Huntsman Building Products, LLC JSC owned by the U.S.-based Polymer
Materials and Huntsman International corporations, and for misusing
important portions of the funds donated for charitable purposes. The
National Security Service (NSS)press service announced it launched
criminal proceedings for "money laundering based on Article 190 Para
3.1 of the Criminal Code of Armenia."
The NSS also charged that US $1.135 million representing a sizable
chunk of the $2 million proceeds from the sale of Huntsman Building
Products, LLC JSC "was transferred to the bank accounts of Civilitas'
founder Vartan Oskanian and member of the board of trustees Tigran
Karapetyan. Besides, Civilitas Foundation, breaking its own statutes
and rules, has submitted no financial report in 2011 on the charity
money allotted by Polymer Materials and Huntsman International
corporations," reported ArmTown.com news service. The NSS underlined
that it has ordered "tax inspections and is taking other measures to
ensure an objective and comprehensive investigation."
In response to the criminal case initiated against him, Mr. Oskanian
stated Tuesday: "Today the National Security Service issued a statement
trying to prove that the criminal case they have initiated is not
politically motivated. I repeat that it is clearly politically
motivated and I want to say the following: 'money laundering,'
'Oskanian,' 'Huntsman' are words that cannot be placed together in
one sentence. In order for there to be money laundering, there must
first be dirty money. In this case, the sources of the funds are
known, the buyer is known, and the transfer of the funds to me and
to Civilitas according to the donor's wishes has been transparent
and electronic. The attorneys have said that no tax obligation
was created as a result of the transaction. And the donor's funds
'shall be considered as a donation and the Recipient has the right
to use in its discretion and for the implementation of its statutory
objectives.' Only those with political motivations will attempt to
reduce a good man's good work to political currency."
Armenia's Prime Minister Tigran Sagsyan was quoted by RFE/RL to have
told reporters that he ruled out political motivations in the case.
"Nobody has been charged. We are only talking about clearing up some
circumstances."
"Unfortunately, when the state tries to carry out some actions to
clarify phenomena hidden behind one or another piece of information
people immediately allege a political subtext," he said.
Since it's too early to arrive at a conclusion, for now I would
like to limit the scope of this article to asking a set of $2
million-questions.
Was there a contract between Mr. Huntsman, Mr. Oskanian and The
Civilitas Foundation on the terms of the allocation of the donated
funds?
If there was a contract, what are the terms of the agreement? Mr.
Oskanian can help clarify matters by making a copy of the contract
public.
Did Mr. Oskanian misallocate any portions of the $2 million Huntsman
funds by earmarking them for personal use?
Did he use any portions of the $2 million Huntsman charitable
donation to finance his May 2012 political campaign?
On other financial issues, namely other funds raised during the
last three years, I wrote to Salpi H. Ghazarian, the Director of The
Civilitas Foundation asking to provide answers to couple questions:
- What are the sources of income itemizing the amounts of donations
received for the last three years?
- How were the received funds disbursed for the last three years?
I received no response from Ms. Ghazarian. After couple more emails
an assistant pointed to the last three years' financial statements
posted on the website (civilitasfoundation.org). The statements failed
to provide answers to my questions.
I further continued my research and noticed that there are three
entities using the name "Civilitas." The first one is The Civilitas
Foundation (www.civilitasfoundation.org) headquartered in Yerevan,
Armenia; the second is The Civilitas Global (www.civilitasamerica.org)
headquartered in Glendale, California, USA; and the third is The
Civilitas Foundation also headquartered in Glendale, California, USA.
I again wrote to Ms. Ghazarian asking for clarification whether
"these three organizations are affiliated with each other in any
way? If they are affiliated," I further requested that she provide
USA Armenian Life Magazine with "the 2009, 2010 and 2011 annual tax
returns of all three of them."
I also called the Glendale offices of The Civilitas Foundation and The
Civilitas Global in order to get some information. The first time,
the telephone was answered by a male voice. As soon as I introduced
myself he hung up. After about 30 minutes, I placed a second call. This
time a female voice answered. She hung up also.
Because of the fact that this case has already triggered dozens of
questions; it's irrelevant whether the criminal case against Mr.
Oskanian is politically motivated. It is even more irrelevant because
of the clear fact that The Civilitas Foundation seems to have been
used as a political spring board by Mr. Oskanian during his forced
"retirement" from public office (2008-May 2012) by Pres. Serge
Sargsyan's administration. So, wasn't the creation of Civilitas
politically motivated?
As for Mr. Huntsman, he may be anxious to get to the bottom of this
more than anybody. Any mishandling of the funds or a portion thereof
may definitely become a source of embarrassment and may even cause
a tax audit by the Internal Revenue Service in the United States.
Besides Oskanian's reputation, Mr. Huntsman's good reputation stands to
be tarnished if the proper transfer and use of his donated funds have
been misused. Mr. Oskanian owes it to himself, his people in Armenia
and the Diaspora, and to Mr. Huntsman to clarify the disbursement
of the Huntsman funds by itemizing the expenditures made out of
these funds.
Finally, it is hopeful that PM Sargsyan realizes that if this
investigation is not allowed to run its course and it gets abruptly
derailed, The NSS, and in general, Armenia will suffer irreparable
damage to its reputation and international standing. No such case that
has criminal and national security ramifications should be abruptly
shelved just because some backroom deals may be made between various
factions in the government.
No amount of political bullying should interrupt proper investigations
of these accusations. Whether these accusations are politically
motivated or not the process should be completed. The National Security
Services of the Republic of Armenia should prove its independence
from all political parties in Armenia by going through the entire
process of investigating and if necessary litigating the case against
all wrongdoers, including Oskanian.
By Appo Jabarian
Executive Publisher/Managing Editor
USA Armenian Life Magazine
http://www.armenianlife.com/2012/06/13/is-armenia%E2%80%99s-criminal-case-against-former-foreign-minister-oskanian-with-merits-or-politically-motivated/
June 13, 2012
A debate is raging on throughout Armenia and the Diaspora on whether
this week's criminal investigation of Republic of Armenia's Former
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian has any merits or it is politically
motivated.
Mr. Oskanian and his Civilitas Foundation are accused of failing to
report US$2 million donations received from the sale of 100% shares
of Huntsman Building Products, LLC JSC owned by the U.S.-based Polymer
Materials and Huntsman International corporations, and for misusing
important portions of the funds donated for charitable purposes. The
National Security Service (NSS)press service announced it launched
criminal proceedings for "money laundering based on Article 190 Para
3.1 of the Criminal Code of Armenia."
The NSS also charged that US $1.135 million representing a sizable
chunk of the $2 million proceeds from the sale of Huntsman Building
Products, LLC JSC "was transferred to the bank accounts of Civilitas'
founder Vartan Oskanian and member of the board of trustees Tigran
Karapetyan. Besides, Civilitas Foundation, breaking its own statutes
and rules, has submitted no financial report in 2011 on the charity
money allotted by Polymer Materials and Huntsman International
corporations," reported ArmTown.com news service. The NSS underlined
that it has ordered "tax inspections and is taking other measures to
ensure an objective and comprehensive investigation."
In response to the criminal case initiated against him, Mr. Oskanian
stated Tuesday: "Today the National Security Service issued a statement
trying to prove that the criminal case they have initiated is not
politically motivated. I repeat that it is clearly politically
motivated and I want to say the following: 'money laundering,'
'Oskanian,' 'Huntsman' are words that cannot be placed together in
one sentence. In order for there to be money laundering, there must
first be dirty money. In this case, the sources of the funds are
known, the buyer is known, and the transfer of the funds to me and
to Civilitas according to the donor's wishes has been transparent
and electronic. The attorneys have said that no tax obligation
was created as a result of the transaction. And the donor's funds
'shall be considered as a donation and the Recipient has the right
to use in its discretion and for the implementation of its statutory
objectives.' Only those with political motivations will attempt to
reduce a good man's good work to political currency."
Armenia's Prime Minister Tigran Sagsyan was quoted by RFE/RL to have
told reporters that he ruled out political motivations in the case.
"Nobody has been charged. We are only talking about clearing up some
circumstances."
"Unfortunately, when the state tries to carry out some actions to
clarify phenomena hidden behind one or another piece of information
people immediately allege a political subtext," he said.
Since it's too early to arrive at a conclusion, for now I would
like to limit the scope of this article to asking a set of $2
million-questions.
Was there a contract between Mr. Huntsman, Mr. Oskanian and The
Civilitas Foundation on the terms of the allocation of the donated
funds?
If there was a contract, what are the terms of the agreement? Mr.
Oskanian can help clarify matters by making a copy of the contract
public.
Did Mr. Oskanian misallocate any portions of the $2 million Huntsman
funds by earmarking them for personal use?
Did he use any portions of the $2 million Huntsman charitable
donation to finance his May 2012 political campaign?
On other financial issues, namely other funds raised during the
last three years, I wrote to Salpi H. Ghazarian, the Director of The
Civilitas Foundation asking to provide answers to couple questions:
- What are the sources of income itemizing the amounts of donations
received for the last three years?
- How were the received funds disbursed for the last three years?
I received no response from Ms. Ghazarian. After couple more emails
an assistant pointed to the last three years' financial statements
posted on the website (civilitasfoundation.org). The statements failed
to provide answers to my questions.
I further continued my research and noticed that there are three
entities using the name "Civilitas." The first one is The Civilitas
Foundation (www.civilitasfoundation.org) headquartered in Yerevan,
Armenia; the second is The Civilitas Global (www.civilitasamerica.org)
headquartered in Glendale, California, USA; and the third is The
Civilitas Foundation also headquartered in Glendale, California, USA.
I again wrote to Ms. Ghazarian asking for clarification whether
"these three organizations are affiliated with each other in any
way? If they are affiliated," I further requested that she provide
USA Armenian Life Magazine with "the 2009, 2010 and 2011 annual tax
returns of all three of them."
I also called the Glendale offices of The Civilitas Foundation and The
Civilitas Global in order to get some information. The first time,
the telephone was answered by a male voice. As soon as I introduced
myself he hung up. After about 30 minutes, I placed a second call. This
time a female voice answered. She hung up also.
Because of the fact that this case has already triggered dozens of
questions; it's irrelevant whether the criminal case against Mr.
Oskanian is politically motivated. It is even more irrelevant because
of the clear fact that The Civilitas Foundation seems to have been
used as a political spring board by Mr. Oskanian during his forced
"retirement" from public office (2008-May 2012) by Pres. Serge
Sargsyan's administration. So, wasn't the creation of Civilitas
politically motivated?
As for Mr. Huntsman, he may be anxious to get to the bottom of this
more than anybody. Any mishandling of the funds or a portion thereof
may definitely become a source of embarrassment and may even cause
a tax audit by the Internal Revenue Service in the United States.
Besides Oskanian's reputation, Mr. Huntsman's good reputation stands to
be tarnished if the proper transfer and use of his donated funds have
been misused. Mr. Oskanian owes it to himself, his people in Armenia
and the Diaspora, and to Mr. Huntsman to clarify the disbursement
of the Huntsman funds by itemizing the expenditures made out of
these funds.
Finally, it is hopeful that PM Sargsyan realizes that if this
investigation is not allowed to run its course and it gets abruptly
derailed, The NSS, and in general, Armenia will suffer irreparable
damage to its reputation and international standing. No such case that
has criminal and national security ramifications should be abruptly
shelved just because some backroom deals may be made between various
factions in the government.
No amount of political bullying should interrupt proper investigations
of these accusations. Whether these accusations are politically
motivated or not the process should be completed. The National Security
Services of the Republic of Armenia should prove its independence
from all political parties in Armenia by going through the entire
process of investigating and if necessary litigating the case against
all wrongdoers, including Oskanian.