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The Daily Telegraph (Australia)
January 11, 2014 Saturday
MAN WITH GOLDEN CON GOES MISSING WITH $40M
EXCLUSIVE: MATTHEW BENNS & JIM O'ROURKE
A SYDNEY conman who claimed he was working with the royal family in
Dubai has fled overseas with more than $40 million of investors'
money.
John Varoujan set up the Gold Hedge Royalty Corporation and invited
investors on a luxury 60m cruiser with a jacuzzi on the deck and to
business meetings in Paris, London and Geneva.
"It was all just a big con. None of it was real," said retired
architect Brian Mazlin, who has won a judgment in the NSW Supreme
Court for Varoujan to pay him $3 million he is owed.
"I haven't received a penny because he is not in the country," said Mr
Mazlin, who is now taking action to seize Varoujan's only remaining
asset, a house in Chatswood worth less than $1 million.
"I met him when he was an investment banker with a respectable
company. When he went out on his own I placed investments with him but
I never received any paperwork," said Mr Mazlin.
The brazen conman dazzled 70 Australian investors with a glossy
prospectus promising to invest in gold mines and bullion.
On the cover it said: "In gold we trust". The prospectus aimed to
raise $400 million and was filled with the names of genuine people who
had never consented to be part of the business and background
briefings on real gold mines that he never paid for.
Varoujan invited would-be investors to a business meeting in Rome with
"Vatican financiers" as part of a bogus 200 million euro bullion deal.
Varoujan, whose real name is Varoujan Yaghldjian, was chairman of the
Armenian Chamber of Commerce in Sydney and posed for photos with the
now treasurer Joe Hockey at a charity event.
The flamboyant cigar-smoker used those connections to fleece members
of the Armenian community, including an honorary consul.
Australian Securities and Investments Commission investigators swooped
as soon as they were alerted to the con. ASIC is investigating
Varoujan's scheme and has already cancelled his financial services
licence and taken down his website.
It warned investors that Varoujan's business memorandum "included an
array of false claims including misrepresenting that various law
firms, auditors, and investments banks act for Gold Hedge Royalty".
Varoujan fled the country and set up an office in Dubai's Moscow
Hotel, which is an expensive and notorious pick-up spot for Eastern
European prostitutes.
He told investors back in Australia he was doing gold deals with the
royal family in the United Arab Emirates.
He was spotted paying for lunches in Paris with $US500 notes and
dining out in London and Lebanon.
Adelaide dentist Jamie Harris pumped $1.5 million into Varoujan's gold
company and met him in Dubai to discuss their investment.
"We met in a very expensive hotel and he bought a bottle of Moet and
dinner," said Mr Harris. "It was all promises and nothing came of it.
"The sad thing is that his investment ideas were spot-on, it's just
that he kept the money for himself," said Mr Harris, who ended up
paying Varoujan's $30,000 Dubai hotel bill.
The con man has been busy while overseas.
Australian investment adviser Evan Stevens invested $250,000 with
Varoujan and has been attempting to follow the money trail ever since.
"He registered Gold Hedge Royalty in the Cook Islands and then
Singapore, where he had $9 million transferred in from a group in
Mexico," said Mr Stevens.
But he is suspicious about the origins of the money because the
building in Mexico is empty and the people who allegedly transferred
the money cannot be traced.
Meanwhile UK investors who put more than $1 million in a company
Varoujan set up in Cyprus also want their money back.
Investors have now gone to the Australian police with Chatswood
detectives confirming they are investigating a fraud complaint. "We
would encourage anyone who believes they are a victim of fraud to
report the matter to their local police," said a NSW Police
spokeswoman.
In Australia, Varoujan's wife Eloise said: "I want to know where he is
too. I haven't had contact for the last four years".Email
matthew.benns @news.com.au if you believe you are a victim of fraud
involving Varoujan.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/aussie-conman-flees-overseas-with-40-million-of-investors-money/story-fni0cx12-1226799367636
From: A. Papazian
January 11, 2014 Saturday
MAN WITH GOLDEN CON GOES MISSING WITH $40M
EXCLUSIVE: MATTHEW BENNS & JIM O'ROURKE
A SYDNEY conman who claimed he was working with the royal family in
Dubai has fled overseas with more than $40 million of investors'
money.
John Varoujan set up the Gold Hedge Royalty Corporation and invited
investors on a luxury 60m cruiser with a jacuzzi on the deck and to
business meetings in Paris, London and Geneva.
"It was all just a big con. None of it was real," said retired
architect Brian Mazlin, who has won a judgment in the NSW Supreme
Court for Varoujan to pay him $3 million he is owed.
"I haven't received a penny because he is not in the country," said Mr
Mazlin, who is now taking action to seize Varoujan's only remaining
asset, a house in Chatswood worth less than $1 million.
"I met him when he was an investment banker with a respectable
company. When he went out on his own I placed investments with him but
I never received any paperwork," said Mr Mazlin.
The brazen conman dazzled 70 Australian investors with a glossy
prospectus promising to invest in gold mines and bullion.
On the cover it said: "In gold we trust". The prospectus aimed to
raise $400 million and was filled with the names of genuine people who
had never consented to be part of the business and background
briefings on real gold mines that he never paid for.
Varoujan invited would-be investors to a business meeting in Rome with
"Vatican financiers" as part of a bogus 200 million euro bullion deal.
Varoujan, whose real name is Varoujan Yaghldjian, was chairman of the
Armenian Chamber of Commerce in Sydney and posed for photos with the
now treasurer Joe Hockey at a charity event.
The flamboyant cigar-smoker used those connections to fleece members
of the Armenian community, including an honorary consul.
Australian Securities and Investments Commission investigators swooped
as soon as they were alerted to the con. ASIC is investigating
Varoujan's scheme and has already cancelled his financial services
licence and taken down his website.
It warned investors that Varoujan's business memorandum "included an
array of false claims including misrepresenting that various law
firms, auditors, and investments banks act for Gold Hedge Royalty".
Varoujan fled the country and set up an office in Dubai's Moscow
Hotel, which is an expensive and notorious pick-up spot for Eastern
European prostitutes.
He told investors back in Australia he was doing gold deals with the
royal family in the United Arab Emirates.
He was spotted paying for lunches in Paris with $US500 notes and
dining out in London and Lebanon.
Adelaide dentist Jamie Harris pumped $1.5 million into Varoujan's gold
company and met him in Dubai to discuss their investment.
"We met in a very expensive hotel and he bought a bottle of Moet and
dinner," said Mr Harris. "It was all promises and nothing came of it.
"The sad thing is that his investment ideas were spot-on, it's just
that he kept the money for himself," said Mr Harris, who ended up
paying Varoujan's $30,000 Dubai hotel bill.
The con man has been busy while overseas.
Australian investment adviser Evan Stevens invested $250,000 with
Varoujan and has been attempting to follow the money trail ever since.
"He registered Gold Hedge Royalty in the Cook Islands and then
Singapore, where he had $9 million transferred in from a group in
Mexico," said Mr Stevens.
But he is suspicious about the origins of the money because the
building in Mexico is empty and the people who allegedly transferred
the money cannot be traced.
Meanwhile UK investors who put more than $1 million in a company
Varoujan set up in Cyprus also want their money back.
Investors have now gone to the Australian police with Chatswood
detectives confirming they are investigating a fraud complaint. "We
would encourage anyone who believes they are a victim of fraud to
report the matter to their local police," said a NSW Police
spokeswoman.
In Australia, Varoujan's wife Eloise said: "I want to know where he is
too. I haven't had contact for the last four years".Email
matthew.benns @news.com.au if you believe you are a victim of fraud
involving Varoujan.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/aussie-conman-flees-overseas-with-40-million-of-investors-money/story-fni0cx12-1226799367636
From: A. Papazian