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THREE MORE CONVICTED IN ARMENIAN POWER FRAUD, EXTORTION SCHEMES
Los Angeles Times
April 18 2014
By Christine Mai-Duc This post has been corrected. See the note below
for details.
April 18, 2014, 9:00 a.m.
Three men with ties to the Armenian Power gang were convicted in
federal court this week for their roles in a vast racketeering
conspiracy and a sophisticated debit card skimming scheme that
targeted thousands of customers at 99 Cents Only stores across Southern
California, authorities said.
Two leaders of the gang -- Mher Darbinyan, 38, known to some as
"Capone," and Arman "Horse" Sharopetrosian, 35 -- were convicted
Thursday of racketeering conspiracy and extortion, as well as a slew
of other related charges, according to an announcement from the U.S
attorney for Central California.
The two men worked together to shake down a member of the Armenian
community, using threats of violence and at one point arranging for
the victim's kidnapping at gunpoint, prosecutors said.
>From his prison cell at Avenal State Prison, Sharopetrosian helped
direct the extortion scheme with the help of smuggled cellphones.
The victim paid the pair more than $20,000 over six months, according
to prosecutors.
Darbinyan, of Valencia, also operated a check fraud ring, targeting
bank accounts of businesses and elderly people, and organized the
elaborate card-skimming enterprise, in which devices were installed
at 99 Cents Only discount stores to steal customers' debit card
information and PIN codes.
Rafael Parsadanyan, a 29-year-old Los Angeles resident and an
associate of the gang, was also found guilty Thursday of 14 counts
of bank fraud for helping Darbinyan run the card-skimming operation,
collecting and storing the money and delivering a payment of $34,000
to a fellow scammer.
The convictions represent some of the last few cases remaining from
a sweeping investigation that involved nearly a dozen federal and
local law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, the Glendale Police
Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and the IRS.
Federal prosecutors indicted 90 people in 2011 for crimes ranging from
kidnapping and extortion to identity theft and passing counterfeit
checks. Of the group, 85 have now been convicted.
Darbinyan was found guilty of 57 criminal counts, including bank fraud,
aggravated identity theft and possession of a firearm by a convicted
felon. He faces a maximum of roughly 973 years in federal prison. He
is due in court for sentencing on July 21.
Sharopetrosian, who was convicted of three counts -- racketeering
conspiracy, extortion conspiracy and extortion -- could be sentenced
to 60 years in federal prison when he returns to court for sentencing,
scheduled for Sept. 15.
Darbinyan faces a maximum of 30 years in federal prison for each of
his 14 counts of bank fraud and is scheduled to be sentenced July 14.
The Armenian Power street gang -- known for murders, fraud schemes,
robberies and intimidating witnesses -- rose to prominence out of
East Hollywood in the 1980s, its members consisting primarily of
individuals of Armenian descent and those from other countries in
the former Soviet bloc, prosecutors said.
[For the Record 10:20 a.m. PDT April 18: An earlier version of this
post reported that the victim paid his extorters more than $100,000.
The victim paid more than $20,000.]
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-three-convicted-armenian-power-20140418,0,1948844.story#ixzz2zGMp2jZC
Los Angeles Times
April 18 2014
By Christine Mai-Duc This post has been corrected. See the note below
for details.
April 18, 2014, 9:00 a.m.
Three men with ties to the Armenian Power gang were convicted in
federal court this week for their roles in a vast racketeering
conspiracy and a sophisticated debit card skimming scheme that
targeted thousands of customers at 99 Cents Only stores across Southern
California, authorities said.
Two leaders of the gang -- Mher Darbinyan, 38, known to some as
"Capone," and Arman "Horse" Sharopetrosian, 35 -- were convicted
Thursday of racketeering conspiracy and extortion, as well as a slew
of other related charges, according to an announcement from the U.S
attorney for Central California.
The two men worked together to shake down a member of the Armenian
community, using threats of violence and at one point arranging for
the victim's kidnapping at gunpoint, prosecutors said.
>From his prison cell at Avenal State Prison, Sharopetrosian helped
direct the extortion scheme with the help of smuggled cellphones.
The victim paid the pair more than $20,000 over six months, according
to prosecutors.
Darbinyan, of Valencia, also operated a check fraud ring, targeting
bank accounts of businesses and elderly people, and organized the
elaborate card-skimming enterprise, in which devices were installed
at 99 Cents Only discount stores to steal customers' debit card
information and PIN codes.
Rafael Parsadanyan, a 29-year-old Los Angeles resident and an
associate of the gang, was also found guilty Thursday of 14 counts
of bank fraud for helping Darbinyan run the card-skimming operation,
collecting and storing the money and delivering a payment of $34,000
to a fellow scammer.
The convictions represent some of the last few cases remaining from
a sweeping investigation that involved nearly a dozen federal and
local law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, the Glendale Police
Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and the IRS.
Federal prosecutors indicted 90 people in 2011 for crimes ranging from
kidnapping and extortion to identity theft and passing counterfeit
checks. Of the group, 85 have now been convicted.
Darbinyan was found guilty of 57 criminal counts, including bank fraud,
aggravated identity theft and possession of a firearm by a convicted
felon. He faces a maximum of roughly 973 years in federal prison. He
is due in court for sentencing on July 21.
Sharopetrosian, who was convicted of three counts -- racketeering
conspiracy, extortion conspiracy and extortion -- could be sentenced
to 60 years in federal prison when he returns to court for sentencing,
scheduled for Sept. 15.
Darbinyan faces a maximum of 30 years in federal prison for each of
his 14 counts of bank fraud and is scheduled to be sentenced July 14.
The Armenian Power street gang -- known for murders, fraud schemes,
robberies and intimidating witnesses -- rose to prominence out of
East Hollywood in the 1980s, its members consisting primarily of
individuals of Armenian descent and those from other countries in
the former Soviet bloc, prosecutors said.
[For the Record 10:20 a.m. PDT April 18: An earlier version of this
post reported that the victim paid his extorters more than $100,000.
The victim paid more than $20,000.]
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-three-convicted-armenian-power-20140418,0,1948844.story#ixzz2zGMp2jZC