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Two Men Convicted In Armenian Power Case, Each Sentenced To Quarter

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  • Two Men Convicted In Armenian Power Case, Each Sentenced To Quarter

    TWO MEN CONVICTED IN ARMENIAN POWER CASE, EACH SENTENCED TO QUARTER CENTURY IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR ORCHESTRATING FRAUD SCHEME

    JUSTICE DEPARTMENT DOCUMENTS AND PUBLICATIONS
    November 28, 2012

    U.S. Attorney's Office November 28, 2012

    Central District of California (213) 894-2434

    SANTA ANA, CA--Two men who orchestrated an elaborate identity theft
    scheme from behind the walls of a state prison were sentenced today
    by a federal judge who ordered both men to spend 25 years in federal
    prison.

    The two men were the lead defendants in one of two federal indictments
    that targeted the Armenian Power gang two years ago. According to the
    fraud indictment issued by a grand jury in Orange County, members of
    Armenian Power worked with members of African-American street gangs
    and bribed bank insiders to gather information that allowed them to
    take over bank accounts in a scheme that caused losses of at least
    $8 million.

    Today in federal court, United States District Judge David O. Carter
    sentenced the masterminds of the Orange County scheme and said this
    case involved one of the most sophisticated fraud schemes he had
    ever seen.

    The two defendants sentenced today were:

    Angus Brown, also known as "Homicide," 36, who is described in court
    papers as a "career criminal and identity thief" with numerous prior
    conviction and was serving time for identity theft when he engaged
    in the identity theft scheme that led to this case; and

    Arman Sharopetrosian, also known as "Horse," 33, of Burbank, a member
    of the Armenian Power criminal enterprise who was serving a 10-year
    sentence for shooting at an occupied vehicle and carrying a concealed
    weapon when he committed the federal fraud offense.

    Brown and Sharopetrosian were convicted earlier this year of
    leading the identity theft ring from Avenal State Prison. Brown and
    Sharopetrosian were the main defendants in an indictment unsealed
    in early 2011 that charged 20 defendants for their roles in the
    conspiracy that targeted hundreds of victims and caused millions of
    dollars in losses.

    According to court documents and the evidence presented at
    Sharopetrosian's trial last spring, Sharopetrosian and Brown organized
    a scheme that misappropriated bank information from primarily elderly
    victims and then forged victims' signatures and deposited high-dollar
    checks into accounts set up by members of the conspiracy. The scheme
    recruited bank insiders to target individual bank accounts and to
    illegally obtain confidential personal and financial information.

    Prosecutors argued that the defendants intentionally targeted
    older victims who would be less likely to become aware that their
    identities were being compromised. In court papers, prosecutors wrote
    that the defendants' "express purpose was to target bank customers
    with large-value accounts who were not proficient in checking up on
    their accounts via the Internet" and that they "sought to use that
    information to plunder the victims' life savings."

    In March 2012, Sharopetrosian was found guilty of one count of bank
    fraud conspiracy, four counts of bank fraud, and seven counts of
    aggravated identify fraud.

    Sharopetrosian was also named in a racketeering indictment returned
    by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles that targeted the Armenian
    Power gang. Sharopetrosian is pending trial in that case.

    Brown pleaded guilty in December 2011 to conspiracy to commit bank
    fraud conspiracy, bank fraud, and 17 counts of aggravated identity
    theft.

    All 20 defendants named in the fraud indictment have been convicted,
    and most of them are scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Carter in
    the coming months. The several other defendants already sentenced
    have received sentences of up to 51 months in prison.

    The case was investigated by members of the Eurasian Organized Crime
    Task Force, which includes the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
    the United States Secret Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs
    Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations, the Los Angeles
    Police Department, the Glendale Police Department, the Burbank
    Police Department, the Orange County Sheriff's Department, and the
    Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

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