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This thread exists to document the rampant and unchecked criminality that exists within Armenia, and reveal how it has full control of the country's judicial, civil, and political systems.
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Plenipotentiary meow! -
Re: Armenia: A Mafia State
HETQ, July 14, 2011
Diaspora Investors - Easy Prey for Armenia's Authorities?
"I'm going to throw all of you in prison"
These were the words uttered by tax investigator Rafael Mkrtichyan to Nareg Hartounian, a Lebanese-Armenian who founded the Naregatsi Art Institute.
Yes folks, here's yet another story of a diaspora Armenian investor being bullied by officials in Armenia – this time it's the dreaded State Revenue Committee.
A bit in the way of background info on this family and their activities:
The Naregatsi Art Institute was incorporated in 20002 as a non-profit organization. Its stated objective is to serve Armenia's existing cultural heritage through supporting Armenian contemporary artists and creating a forum in which the spirit of art and the common voice can resonate freely.
The Naregatsi Art Institute opened its doors to the public on September 5, 2004 and in Shushi on August 31, 2006. The Shushi branch was housed in a dilapidated building that was rebuilt. Both centers were accessible to the physically disabled. To date, over $2 million has been spent on the two art centers. (www.naregatsi.org).
With their own resources, the Haroutunian family carries out charitable projects in Yerevan, Shushi and Karvatchar.
They have constructed the Knaravan village (north of Karvatchar in the liberated territories) and have populated it with homeless families. It was named in honor of Knar Haroutunian, the family's deceased mother. The project's aim was to build houses for. The tiny community also has a school and a medical unit so that the 15 families can be provided with all the necessary living conditions. The project, costing $550,000, was completed in 2004. (www.knaravan.org)
During the years 2002-2010, the Haroutunian family has contributed over $3 million to charitable works in Armenia and Artsakh.
In September 2010, Nareg also became director of GH Storage Enterprises, a foodstuff importing business started by his father Garabed Haroutunian.
Before Nareg took over the reins of GH Storage Enterprises, the company's executive director was Sevak Artzruni and Artyom Martirosyan was the managing director. Artzruni ran the show and made all the decisions. The Haroutunian family lived in the U.S. and had close ties to the Sevak Artzruni family. It was Artzruni who ran the business for the Haroutunians.
It was the sudden falling out between Nareg Hartounian and Artzruni that prompted the company's warehouse manager to send off a letter to Armenian law enforcement, stating that the company was purposefully avoiding paying taxes.
The man who wrote the letter was Garik Babayan; the brother of Sevak Artzruni's wife. Nareg had fired Garik Babayan from his job two weeks after becoming executive director.
The Kentron and Nork Marash Administrative Court issued a search warrant for the company's premises. The court order said it was to search for goods not duly registered as inventory. The court claimed that 14 million AMD worth of goods were thus concealed out of an import order of 35 million.
The investigator in charge failed to note when such transactions were alleged to have taken place. Had he done so, it would turn out that it was during the tenure of Sevak Artzruni as executive director.
But I'm jumping the gun. Sevak Artzruni served as the legal representative (power of attorney) for the Haroutunian family since 2003. He purchased real estate for them.
GH Storage Enterprises was established in the name of Garabed Haroutunian and in 2009 he and his two sons, Nareg and Saro, signed a document obliging them to pay Sevak Artzruni 25% of their commercial profits derived in Armenia.
On September 23, 2010, Sevak Artzruni signed a document forgoing any further dealings with the Haroutunian family and annulling any prior obligations he had to them.
In the letter, Artzruni cited such factors as "a change in the Haroutunians' attititude and growing lack of confidence" as a reason for his pulling out of any and all contractual arrangements with the family.
Artzruni also mentioned that he expected to be paid the 25% in remuneration for services rendered.
Artzruni naturally failed to mention was the fact that Nareg has noticed that large amounts of cash had gone missing. He demanded some answers from Artzruni.
This is where the story gets more than a bit confusing and multi-layered. Everyone seems to have gotten involved – the courts, cops, tax authorities and a host of other characters.
In the end, Sevak Artzruni sues Garabed Haroutunian and his two sons, demanding that the court make them hand over the 25% profit owed him.
Sevak Artzruni walks around Yerevan flanked with bodyguards.
When he was the executive director of GH Storage Enterprises, Artzruni had the company pay the head of the Police Department’s Division of Personal and Property Protection for the bodyguards.
HETQ 15:42, December 9, 2011
Police Detain Narekatsi Art Union President Nareg Hartounian
Early this morning, police took Nareg Hartounian, President of the Narekatsi Art Union, into custody.
Harutyunyan and some friends were just about to leave for church to participate in a requiem service for his father who passed away 40 days ago. Harutyunyan was detained by two employees from the RA State Revenue Committee. Prior to this, Narekatsi Art Union chief account, Artur Galstyan, had been charged with tax evasion while working for GH Storage Enterprises, a company that law enforcement says is really owned by Narek Harutyunyan.
A Yerevan Court will shortly pass judgement on Hartounian's possible arrest
HETQ, 14:15, December 11, 2011
Armenian Government: Free Nareg!
On the morning of Friday, December 9, 2011, Nareg Hartounian, founder of the Naregatsi Art Institute in Yerevan and Shushi was arrested on trumped up charges of tax evasion. Within the course of a day, he was indicted, tried and found guilty without proper due process. Authorities in the Armenian government are attempting to extort Nareg and his family of properties and money by the use of fear and unjust incarceration. For anyone that knows Nareg personally or knows of the incredibly selfless and important work he does in Armenia and Artsakh supporting the arts, as well as children and the disabled, it is easy to understand why this act by Armenian authorities is especially despicable.
Please sign this petition and help us set Nareg free again to continue his great work. We cannot afford to lose men and women like him. They are the people who keep our country and our world moving forward. We are also running petitions at the Naregatsi Art Institute. If you are in Yerevan, please visit and show your support. Thank You!
Address: Vardanants 16/1, Yerevan, Armenia
Facebook: www.facebook.com/FreeNareg
A Case Study in “Armenian Justice”?
By Dr. Audrey Selian
Nothing could have made more a mockery of the Armenian “justice” system than the recent arrest of Nareg Harutunian in Yerevan this past week.
Indeed, it would be difficult to render the words “Armenian justice” more oxymoronic, as in essence Nareg is the 'perfect guy' to charge with counts of ‘money laundering’ and/or ‘tax evasion’. The unadulterated, pure irony of Nareg’s arrest will serve as a powerful tool in undermining the status quo of the system of governance in today’s Armenia. This irony is not lost on those of us who know him and his work, and who will do everything in our power to communicate our knowledge.
As someone whose personal track record in the venerable Motherland is so overtly philanthropic and well-meaning, the very notion that this particular man is capable of involvement in an illicit pursuit of cash is outrageous.
Could a more patriotic and devoted individual have been wrongly accused? On the other side of the equation, could the counterparties be more unsavory and shady? This simply begs the question whether those in the justice industry actually conduct real investigations before they arrest, indict and sentence people? Or are those acting in the name of justice rather simply following the orders of the corrupt Mafioso ‘du jour’? Since the former is unlikely, the latter appears to be the more depressingly realistic possibility. It appears this ‘investigation’ has been on-going since earlier this year. Commissioners, could you really not figure out who was at the bottom of this problem all these months? Or is the real guilty party making that harder to see, somehow. That's an intentionally rhetorical question.
As a long-time fan and supporter of Naregatsi Art Institute,years ago I attempted in various ways to help the organization fundraise. Much of the financial burden of the organization in both Yerevan and Shushi was carried by the Harutunian family, with the help of a small number of sponsors and donors from within their network of friends and family. Much as I would try to suggest alternative and more commercial routes to fundraising, Nareg would be adamantly against commercializing his work; he has never intended to squeeze a penny out of the distribution of any of the artists or performers whose work he has tirelessly supported and disseminated. Even when the burdens of running multiple projects in both Armenia and Karabagh got heavier, even when I would ask questions about how on earth one handles the kinds of challenges of operating in Armenia – he told me, “you have to care for the Motherland as you would care for your sick child whom you are helping to make better”. This attitude assuaged my concerns. Until now.
To be sure, with corruption rankings from multiple international institutions that paint a bleak picture, and with rumours of rampant impropriety in the vast majority of Diasporan-related investments (whether for-profit or not), the Armenian government might want to consider taking a more pro-active hand in managing the unfriendly image projected to the international philanthro-investment community. Whether the issue is in attracting investors or grant-makers, we can be sure that stories like this, in tandem with the fiasco faced by the likes of George and Carolann Najarian from Boston, Ma., or even my own experience with deeply questionable local partners in the case of MER DOON NGO at its inception – all of these present a real and present danger for the nature of Armenian relations with its Diaspora.
This is in effect what some could term the beginning of a serious crisis of public diplomacy – not at high political levels – but rather at the levels of seemingly trite, colloquial exchange. But these are also the levels at which ordinary people talk to each other. And thus on a viral basis, we as a collective just might think twice before opening our checkbooks next time to support projects in Armenia without deep, comprehensive due diligence. If that due diligence is not happening on an organization we support, it better be happening on the local partner we have chosen. To date, every penny that has been usurped, misallocated, intentionally subverted or outright stolen from the coffers of private philanthropists, corporate investors or donor agencies working in Armenia is the responsibility of those who have made the choice to give, send or invest it. That’s a LOT OF PENNIES. That’s right; the corruption of Armenia is as much the responsibility of us lazy Diasporans and one-eyed development finance institutions as it is that of the unsavoury local few who abuse rank and role.
Naturally, the case of Nareg Harutunian’s arrest has taken all of this issue of corruption in aid, charity and investment to the next level. The one error many might agree was committed by Nareg in all of this was one based on trust; to have had too much faith in the nature of those he may have called ‘friends’ or ‘brothers’, and not enough foresight to imagine the consequences in the event of fall-out or disgruntlement. The moral of the story appears to be something along the lines of: never extend ‘power of attorney’ to a local Armenian partner. Is this really the image we want to live with moving forward? Is this really what is going to help the people of Armenia?
Once again, the very nature of the illegal activity with which Nareg is being charged is antithetical to his very person, and this is what will galvanize us most effectively within the borders of Armenia as well as in Diaspora to stand up and fight this ridiculous injustice.
Had those who executed upon their orders to arrest Nareg conducted even the lightest proper due diligence in scratching the surface of his character and of this case, they would have foreseen the international tsunami of dissent that was about to hit them.Last edited by bell-the-cat; 12-12-2011, 09:57 AM.Plenipotentiary meow!
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