Tweet
Appeals Court Sustains Verdict Against Company Owned by Deceased
American-Armenian Businessman George Baghoumian
Kristine Aghalaryan
00:45, May 9, 2013
Yesterday the RA Civil Appeals Court let stand a lower court ruling
that had gone against a company owned by George Baghoumian, an
American-Armenian businessman who died on April 25 while being held in
pre-trial detention in the Nubarashen Correctional Facility.
Baghoumian was seeking to overturn the lower court's ruling in a suit
he had brought against Arva Yerkir Ltd.
The businessman was being held in Nubarashen to await trial on charges
of tax evasion and illegal arms possession. Baghoumian always
proclaimed his innocence and now his family is charging that top
Armenian government officials are seeking to appropriate his property
and assets.
George Baghoumian used to produce electric batteries that he sold to
the RA Ministry of Defense. Afterwards, his company lost contract bids
to Arva Yerkir, a company founded by General Vardan Avetisyan. The
general would buy the batteries from Baghoumian's Gold Energy company
and then resell them to the Ministry of Defense.
According to Baghoumian lawyer Ruben Balabanyan, in 2010, Arva Yerkir
failed to pay for a certain amount of batteries and the diaspora
businessman took the general's company to court.
Gold Energy transferred 193 million AMD worth of merchandise to Arva
Yerkir, but was only paid 152.5 million.
Arva Yerkir also countersued Gold Energy, claiming that the batteries
weren't supplied on time and that it was forced to contract with other
suppliers.
According to the countersuit, Arva Yerkir argued that the Armenian
Army would suffer if the batteries weren't supplied on time and that
the company's reputation would be damaged as well. Arva Yerkir also
claimed that Gold Energy had discredited a number of government
officials (General Avetisyan) and had presented unsubstantiated
charges.
Attorney Balabanyan also notes that according to the contract between
Gold Energy and the Ministry of Defense, the batteries were to be of
domestic production, whereas during the time when Gold Energy was
doing business with Arva Yerkir, the latter used the money it didn't
pay Gold Energy to purchase foreign made batteries via a company
called Metz-Aniv Ltd.
At the end of 2010, Arva Yerkir also signed a contract with Elbat Ltd.
One of the owners of this company was Karen Jshmarityan, a member of
parliament and a former commerce and economic development minister.
Before his death, George Baghoumian had told Hetq that certain
individuals were attempting to seize the battery business from him.
They first forced him to vacate the production facility Gold Energy
was using (on a site owned by Elbat) and move to Etchmiadzin. Later,
they did everything to dissuade him from battery production in
general.
Arva Yerkir spins the story differently, claiming that Gold Energy's
batteries were of substandard quality and that it had to spend an
additional 3.5 million AMD in repairs. It addition, Arva Yerkir says
it faced additional expenses when forced to contract with other
suppliers.
Thus, Arva Yerkir had sought 10.5 million AMD for sustained losses
from Baghoumian's company.
The company also claimed that it had to pay 15.8 million in VAT taxes
after Gold Energy failed to provide proper accounting statements. Arva
says it paid for two accounting audits as well.
Attorney Balabanyan refutes the tax charge and says that Arva Yerkir
has no evidence proving that the liability stemmed from Gold Energy.
`Perhaps this tax liability was caused by the actions of another
company,' he argues.
At the end of the day, lower court Judge Gagik Heboyan rejected Gold
Energy's 47.8 million AMD payment demand and sustained Arva Yerkir's
11 million demand (10.5 million for sustained losses and the remainder
in compensation for the audits).
Today, Appeals Court Judge Narineh Barseghyan let the lower court
decision stand and added another 4 million AMD in state fees which
must be paid by the company of the deceased American-Armenian
businessman.
http://hetq.am/eng/articles/26359/appeals-court-sustains-verdict-against-company-owned-by-deceased-american-armenian-businessman-george-baghoumian.html
American-Armenian Businessman George Baghoumian
Kristine Aghalaryan
00:45, May 9, 2013
Yesterday the RA Civil Appeals Court let stand a lower court ruling
that had gone against a company owned by George Baghoumian, an
American-Armenian businessman who died on April 25 while being held in
pre-trial detention in the Nubarashen Correctional Facility.
Baghoumian was seeking to overturn the lower court's ruling in a suit
he had brought against Arva Yerkir Ltd.
The businessman was being held in Nubarashen to await trial on charges
of tax evasion and illegal arms possession. Baghoumian always
proclaimed his innocence and now his family is charging that top
Armenian government officials are seeking to appropriate his property
and assets.
George Baghoumian used to produce electric batteries that he sold to
the RA Ministry of Defense. Afterwards, his company lost contract bids
to Arva Yerkir, a company founded by General Vardan Avetisyan. The
general would buy the batteries from Baghoumian's Gold Energy company
and then resell them to the Ministry of Defense.
According to Baghoumian lawyer Ruben Balabanyan, in 2010, Arva Yerkir
failed to pay for a certain amount of batteries and the diaspora
businessman took the general's company to court.
Gold Energy transferred 193 million AMD worth of merchandise to Arva
Yerkir, but was only paid 152.5 million.
Arva Yerkir also countersued Gold Energy, claiming that the batteries
weren't supplied on time and that it was forced to contract with other
suppliers.
According to the countersuit, Arva Yerkir argued that the Armenian
Army would suffer if the batteries weren't supplied on time and that
the company's reputation would be damaged as well. Arva Yerkir also
claimed that Gold Energy had discredited a number of government
officials (General Avetisyan) and had presented unsubstantiated
charges.
Attorney Balabanyan also notes that according to the contract between
Gold Energy and the Ministry of Defense, the batteries were to be of
domestic production, whereas during the time when Gold Energy was
doing business with Arva Yerkir, the latter used the money it didn't
pay Gold Energy to purchase foreign made batteries via a company
called Metz-Aniv Ltd.
At the end of 2010, Arva Yerkir also signed a contract with Elbat Ltd.
One of the owners of this company was Karen Jshmarityan, a member of
parliament and a former commerce and economic development minister.
Before his death, George Baghoumian had told Hetq that certain
individuals were attempting to seize the battery business from him.
They first forced him to vacate the production facility Gold Energy
was using (on a site owned by Elbat) and move to Etchmiadzin. Later,
they did everything to dissuade him from battery production in
general.
Arva Yerkir spins the story differently, claiming that Gold Energy's
batteries were of substandard quality and that it had to spend an
additional 3.5 million AMD in repairs. It addition, Arva Yerkir says
it faced additional expenses when forced to contract with other
suppliers.
Thus, Arva Yerkir had sought 10.5 million AMD for sustained losses
from Baghoumian's company.
The company also claimed that it had to pay 15.8 million in VAT taxes
after Gold Energy failed to provide proper accounting statements. Arva
says it paid for two accounting audits as well.
Attorney Balabanyan refutes the tax charge and says that Arva Yerkir
has no evidence proving that the liability stemmed from Gold Energy.
`Perhaps this tax liability was caused by the actions of another
company,' he argues.
At the end of the day, lower court Judge Gagik Heboyan rejected Gold
Energy's 47.8 million AMD payment demand and sustained Arva Yerkir's
11 million demand (10.5 million for sustained losses and the remainder
in compensation for the audits).
Today, Appeals Court Judge Narineh Barseghyan let the lower court
decision stand and added another 4 million AMD in state fees which
must be paid by the company of the deceased American-Armenian
businessman.
http://hetq.am/eng/articles/26359/appeals-court-sustains-verdict-against-company-owned-by-deceased-american-armenian-businessman-george-baghoumian.html