(11-29) 04:00 PDT Los Angeles -- A giant rip-off of the California Medi-Cal system, centered in Armenian immigrant neighborhoods of Los Angeles, may total more than $1 billion when it is finally unraveled, making it one of the largest frauds against a state in American history, federal investigators report.
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FBI and California officials, in a task force set up by Gov. Gray Davis a year and a half ago, are now alleging extensive criminal activity by storefront businesses that sent millions of dollars in phony claims to the state medical program for crutches, adult diapers, prescriptions and other supplies and services. Medi-Cal is California's name for Medicaid, the federal-state effort to provide health care for the poor.
Investigators believe the hub of the criminal activity is the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, where medical supply stores catering almost exclusively to Medi-Cal have become as numerous as hamburger joints.
Charges for false billings have been lodged against 64 businesses and their owners; 35 have pleaded guilty and the rest are pending.
Penalties have included fines and prison terms ranging from 10 months to three years. The government's cases have been so strong that no one has yet contested the charges in a trial. An additional 300 businesses are under investigation. Most of those charged have Armenian surnames.
The probe has shaken Armenian American communities, prompting charges of ``witch hunt'' and ``state terrorism'' from lawyers representing some of those accused.
``There is great fear in the Armenian community,'' said attorney Pat Hooper. ``They don't know how to react to this. What we are troubled by is the tactics that are being used and the presumption that everyone who is an Armenian must be doing something illegal.''
Federal prosecutors in the U.S. attorney's office in Sacramento dismiss Hooper's accusations, saying that fraud, not ethnicity, is driving the investigation. ``We are taking down any fraud we find regardless of race, creed, color or nationality,'' said Dan Linhardt, chief of the white-collar fraud unit.
In fiscal year 1996, the state spent $173.4 million for Medi-Cal supplies. By 1998, expenditures had soared to $258.4 million, nearly a 50 percent jump.
Auditors in Controller Kathleen Connell's office alerted state officials to an abrupt increase in its fraud findings, which prompted the FBI to open its investigation.
An FBI informant told the Los Angeles Times that loose government regulation makes it easy for unscrupulous operators to steal.
To establish a business, scam artists first apply for a Medi-Cal provider number, which entitles them to receive state payments and which, until a very recent crackdown, could be easily obtained.
Then, from black marketeers known as ``cappers,'' they purchase lists containing hundreds of recipient numbers, the informant said. Cappers steal the numbers from doctors' offices or buy them on the street, sometimes from the homeless.
Once in business, fraud operators begin billing Medi-Cal electronically, asking reimbursement for thousands of dollars in supplies they claimed to have provided poor patients. Some operators, the informant said, pulled in as much as $500,000 a month in illegal payments. The informant said death threats have been made against him and asked not to be identified.
Under FBI scrutiny are the parts of Medi-Cal that provide medical supplies, laboratory work, pharmaceuticals and nonemergency medical transportation to recipients who are not part of a managed care system.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Ashot Metz-Mami beete ooragh ?
yup, here's a first in the USA only a Hayvanstanci can devise, yes the ones, Armenians in the USA send millions to yearly....
Okay, here's the story...a Hayvanstanci family is collecting social security via their grandmother. With that monthly check from the Federal Government (mind you these people should not be collecting social security in the first place because they never worked a day in this wonderful US of A) they were able to make payments on a new Mercedes Benz. However, grandmother soon died and with her the social security checks. Have no fear! the "smart" Armenian-HAYVANSTANCI needs to make payments or the repo man will take away their glorious car, though they will eat only lavash and drink oghi for the next 5 years. So, they cut off grandmother's thumb before burial and put it in the freezer. They write a forged letter to the SSA claiming that grandma is disabled so she can't sign her checks, but she is able to verify her signature with a thumb print, which the SSA has on file. So every month, Ashot takes the frozen thumb out of the freezer and signs the paychecks. boy oh boy, them hayvans think they outsmarted the USA, because you know they are smarter than everyone else (pun!) ROTFLMAO.
However, the SSA is required to make a physical appearance every year to the residence (I guess the Hayvanstancis didn't read the fine print). Once, caught, they were charged with:
1. Mutilating a corpse
2. Mail & wire fraud
3. money laundering for wiring the funds to Hayvanstan
4. Forgery
5. Theft
and countless other charges. Give 'em the chair I say !
Okay, here's the story...a Hayvanstanci family is collecting social security via their grandmother. With that monthly check from the Federal Government (mind you these people should not be collecting social security in the first place because they never worked a day in this wonderful US of A) they were able to make payments on a new Mercedes Benz. However, grandmother soon died and with her the social security checks. Have no fear! the "smart" Armenian-HAYVANSTANCI needs to make payments or the repo man will take away their glorious car, though they will eat only lavash and drink oghi for the next 5 years. So, they cut off grandmother's thumb before burial and put it in the freezer. They write a forged letter to the SSA claiming that grandma is disabled so she can't sign her checks, but she is able to verify her signature with a thumb print, which the SSA has on file. So every month, Ashot takes the frozen thumb out of the freezer and signs the paychecks. boy oh boy, them hayvans think they outsmarted the USA, because you know they are smarter than everyone else (pun!) ROTFLMAO.
However, the SSA is required to make a physical appearance every year to the residence (I guess the Hayvanstancis didn't read the fine print). Once, caught, they were charged with:
1. Mutilating a corpse
2. Mail & wire fraud
3. money laundering for wiring the funds to Hayvanstan
4. Forgery
5. Theft
and countless other charges. Give 'em the chair I say !
Chalk another one up to those honest, hardworking Hayvanstancis!
LA Street Gangs Add ID Theft to Turf
California sees surge in 'Crips,' 'Mexican Mafia,' and other gangs going into the identity theft business
AUGUST 15, 2008 | It’s not just Eastern European or Asian cyber gangs -- gangs from the streets of L.A. and other cities better known for drugs and weapons violence are now turning to identity theft crimes as well, according to a published report .
Cases of identity theft reportedly involving a chapter of the ‘Crips’ from Long Beach, Calif., Armenian Power, and Mexican Mafia gangs, have demonstrated that ID theft is no longer the domain of international computer hackers, for instance. Gang-related ID theft was part of the 31 percent jump in ID theft complaints in California last year, according to a new report from Identity Theft 911.
California is a big fat target for ID theft: around 1.5 million Californians were victims of this crime last year, according to the report, and credit-card fraud is the main culprit. Next is employment fraud, including Social Security number (SSN) thefts for undocumented workers.
Experts say street gangs are finding ID theft an easy way to make a buck. In a recent case being investigated by California’s Department of Consumer Affairs, a former personnel specialist there, Rachel Dumbrique, sent names and SSNs of 5,000 people on the state’s payroll to a personal Yahoo email account on her last day at the agency. She says she didn’t know SSNs were in the file, but investigators are looking at the case closely because she’s the wife of an imprisoned gang member of Mexican Mafia.
Meanwhile, a group affiliated with the Long Beach Insane Crips gang allegedly sole nearly $90,000 from a local financial institution in a check-cashing scam.
California sees surge in 'Crips,' 'Mexican Mafia,' and other gangs going into the identity theft business
AUGUST 15, 2008 | It’s not just Eastern European or Asian cyber gangs -- gangs from the streets of L.A. and other cities better known for drugs and weapons violence are now turning to identity theft crimes as well, according to a published report .
Cases of identity theft reportedly involving a chapter of the ‘Crips’ from Long Beach, Calif., Armenian Power, and Mexican Mafia gangs, have demonstrated that ID theft is no longer the domain of international computer hackers, for instance. Gang-related ID theft was part of the 31 percent jump in ID theft complaints in California last year, according to a new report from Identity Theft 911.
California is a big fat target for ID theft: around 1.5 million Californians were victims of this crime last year, according to the report, and credit-card fraud is the main culprit. Next is employment fraud, including Social Security number (SSN) thefts for undocumented workers.
Experts say street gangs are finding ID theft an easy way to make a buck. In a recent case being investigated by California’s Department of Consumer Affairs, a former personnel specialist there, Rachel Dumbrique, sent names and SSNs of 5,000 people on the state’s payroll to a personal Yahoo email account on her last day at the agency. She says she didn’t know SSNs were in the file, but investigators are looking at the case closely because she’s the wife of an imprisoned gang member of Mexican Mafia.
Meanwhile, a group affiliated with the Long Beach Insane Crips gang allegedly sole nearly $90,000 from a local financial institution in a check-cashing scam.
observations by Ara Baliozian
Thursday, September 4, 2008
*******************************************
DIARY
*************************
When after Independence 1,500,000 Armenians chose to emigrate, did anyone ever utter the word genosuicide or see the statistical connection?
*
I once received a letter from a descendant of Raffi that said, among other things, “If Raffi were alive today, he would agree with you.” The memory of that letter means more to me than the 1001 insultS hurled at me by faceless, nameless, cowardly riffraff.
*
After silencing and alienating all dissenters, they say Armenians are unanimous on this point, when the only time we have achieved unanimity is in our passive acceptance of our status as perennial underdogs.
*
Americans speak of spin doctors. We don't have them. Ours are all quacks.
*
A Russian intellectual as quoted by Schlesinger in his JOURNALS: “I would die for democracy. But I know my people. They do not want democracy. They have never known democracy. The czars? Lenin? Stalin? Khrushchev? Brezhnev? They fear democracy. They want to be told what to do.”
If, to the above list of authoritarian rulers we add a succession of sultans that ruled us for 600 years, the picture becomes more depressing and our prospects more grim. I will never forget the university student from the Homeland who once demanded of me: “What's so great about democracy anyway?”
#
Friday, September 5, 2008
***********************************************
DIARY / III
***************************
At least in one specific endeavor I can declare myself an unqualified success – that of alienating everyone who is someone in our communities. What Zarian confided to his diary and notebooks (published only posthumously) I have posted on discussion forums and websites on the Internet accessible to the whole world.
*
Since God is the Great Unknown and Unknowable, all my efforts are now concentrated in placing as great a distance as possible between myself and the Devil, whose kingdom is within us as well as without – because someone else's within is my without.
*
When they didn't like what I wrote, they wanted to hire me. Once, I was even asked to write the biography of a national benefactor, to which I said I did not consider myself equal to the task. And they say I lack diplomacy....
*
When an Armenian is good, he is good like everyone else. But when he is bad, he is bad like a Turk – or rather, his conception of a Turk: a fat mustachioed slob in shalvars wielding a yataghan dripping with blood.
*
To die in the name of an ideal is heroic, but not if the enemy does it.
*
To humanize the dehumanized is a job not for intellectuals but for prophets and messiahs.
*
With fools, pretend to be a fool, if that is, you want to live longer.
*
At the turn of the last century in the Ottoman Empire Armenian writers wrote mostly about Armenians. In the 21st century in America they write mostly about Turks.
#
Saturday, September 6, 2008
*********************************************
OBSERVATIONS
*******************************
Freedom and patriotism are weasel words: they can be defined in a number of contradictory ways. Freedom could also mean the freedom to exploit and enslave; and what could be more absurd than to say my patriotism is good but my enemy’s patriotism is bad?
*
How much of what we know today would be reduced to ignorance if we were to see reality through the eyes of God?
*
It is not enough to voice lofty principles. One must earn the right. For myself, I shall always be grateful to Judas for not writing an ode to loyalty. But as an Armenian, I am used to reading editorials on tolerance by fanatics and listening to sermons on chastity by fornicators.
*
Mountain people think their mountain is the center of the world. They view other mountains with suspicion and the valley below with contempt. They develop their own ways and consider all others as deviations. We are mountain people who refuse to give up their mountain ways even when they live on flatlands.
*
Greed makes a man more cunning as well as stupid: more cunning in his employment of means to achieve his end, and more stupid in thinking he can hide his greed.
#
*******************************************
DIARY
*************************
When after Independence 1,500,000 Armenians chose to emigrate, did anyone ever utter the word genosuicide or see the statistical connection?
*
I once received a letter from a descendant of Raffi that said, among other things, “If Raffi were alive today, he would agree with you.” The memory of that letter means more to me than the 1001 insultS hurled at me by faceless, nameless, cowardly riffraff.
*
After silencing and alienating all dissenters, they say Armenians are unanimous on this point, when the only time we have achieved unanimity is in our passive acceptance of our status as perennial underdogs.
*
Americans speak of spin doctors. We don't have them. Ours are all quacks.
*
A Russian intellectual as quoted by Schlesinger in his JOURNALS: “I would die for democracy. But I know my people. They do not want democracy. They have never known democracy. The czars? Lenin? Stalin? Khrushchev? Brezhnev? They fear democracy. They want to be told what to do.”
If, to the above list of authoritarian rulers we add a succession of sultans that ruled us for 600 years, the picture becomes more depressing and our prospects more grim. I will never forget the university student from the Homeland who once demanded of me: “What's so great about democracy anyway?”
#
Friday, September 5, 2008
***********************************************
DIARY / III
***************************
At least in one specific endeavor I can declare myself an unqualified success – that of alienating everyone who is someone in our communities. What Zarian confided to his diary and notebooks (published only posthumously) I have posted on discussion forums and websites on the Internet accessible to the whole world.
*
Since God is the Great Unknown and Unknowable, all my efforts are now concentrated in placing as great a distance as possible between myself and the Devil, whose kingdom is within us as well as without – because someone else's within is my without.
*
When they didn't like what I wrote, they wanted to hire me. Once, I was even asked to write the biography of a national benefactor, to which I said I did not consider myself equal to the task. And they say I lack diplomacy....
*
When an Armenian is good, he is good like everyone else. But when he is bad, he is bad like a Turk – or rather, his conception of a Turk: a fat mustachioed slob in shalvars wielding a yataghan dripping with blood.
*
To die in the name of an ideal is heroic, but not if the enemy does it.
*
To humanize the dehumanized is a job not for intellectuals but for prophets and messiahs.
*
With fools, pretend to be a fool, if that is, you want to live longer.
*
At the turn of the last century in the Ottoman Empire Armenian writers wrote mostly about Armenians. In the 21st century in America they write mostly about Turks.
#
Saturday, September 6, 2008
*********************************************
OBSERVATIONS
*******************************
Freedom and patriotism are weasel words: they can be defined in a number of contradictory ways. Freedom could also mean the freedom to exploit and enslave; and what could be more absurd than to say my patriotism is good but my enemy’s patriotism is bad?
*
How much of what we know today would be reduced to ignorance if we were to see reality through the eyes of God?
*
It is not enough to voice lofty principles. One must earn the right. For myself, I shall always be grateful to Judas for not writing an ode to loyalty. But as an Armenian, I am used to reading editorials on tolerance by fanatics and listening to sermons on chastity by fornicators.
*
Mountain people think their mountain is the center of the world. They view other mountains with suspicion and the valley below with contempt. They develop their own ways and consider all others as deviations. We are mountain people who refuse to give up their mountain ways even when they live on flatlands.
*
Greed makes a man more cunning as well as stupid: more cunning in his employment of means to achieve his end, and more stupid in thinking he can hide his greed.
#
20 years later - negative population growth
so why do people leave a small country of 3 million, after 20 years of aid, so-called humanitarian missions, airlifts, foreign lons, diaspora money, and investment?
1. The greedy Hayvanstancis stole as much as the aid as possible, sold it in the open markets of Yerevan, Georgia, and Russia, and purchased Mercedes, BMWs, and Jeep Hummers with that money.
2. Those that left decided that it was too difficult to "con" a fellow Hayvanstanci and decided to setup their criminal enterprises in Europe or the USA. Remember, Armenians are smarter than everyone else, so why not ripoff the "dumber". In the end, the FBI and Interpol I guess just got lucky, because over 30,000 of them Hayvanstancis and Russastanci thieves are in prison, where they belong.
3. Another, albeit, small minority of Armenians from Armenia & the former Soviet Union, left to go work in Turkey, USA, Russia, France, Germany...Canada...South America and marry Odars (non-Armenians). By the way, calling someone an odar is a borderline insult in Armenians, What does it mean you say? exactly what I said it does, "a foreigner". Therefore, everyone who us a non-Armenian is "lower" than an Armenian. My own mother talks about Persians being beneath Armenians, at one time. She sings a different tune now. Yes, over 70% of the Armenian women, from the former USSR, that I know are married to ODARS. I don't blame them. WHo the hell wants to live with a big talking, chain smoking, non-working, Hayvan?
1. The greedy Hayvanstancis stole as much as the aid as possible, sold it in the open markets of Yerevan, Georgia, and Russia, and purchased Mercedes, BMWs, and Jeep Hummers with that money.
2. Those that left decided that it was too difficult to "con" a fellow Hayvanstanci and decided to setup their criminal enterprises in Europe or the USA. Remember, Armenians are smarter than everyone else, so why not ripoff the "dumber". In the end, the FBI and Interpol I guess just got lucky, because over 30,000 of them Hayvanstancis and Russastanci thieves are in prison, where they belong.
3. Another, albeit, small minority of Armenians from Armenia & the former Soviet Union, left to go work in Turkey, USA, Russia, France, Germany...Canada...South America and marry Odars (non-Armenians). By the way, calling someone an odar is a borderline insult in Armenians, What does it mean you say? exactly what I said it does, "a foreigner". Therefore, everyone who us a non-Armenian is "lower" than an Armenian. My own mother talks about Persians being beneath Armenians, at one time. She sings a different tune now. Yes, over 70% of the Armenian women, from the former USSR, that I know are married to ODARS. I don't blame them. WHo the hell wants to live with a big talking, chain smoking, non-working, Hayvan?
June 2003, Lake Sevan
We decided to go to the Lake to enjoy a barbecue and a nice relaxing day. I asked to rent a paddle boat because the children we were with wanted me to take them out on the lake. Mind you, Lake Sevan was empty that day, because it was a weekday. (Then again this is Hayvanstan, where most of the population would rather sell their grandmother in one of the airport casinos than actually work at a job). After about 5 minutes enjoying the exercise, 5 jet skiers decided to bother us (mind you the lake was empty, so there was no reason to jet ski around my family) and encircle us. These idiots, so called moral Armenians, with a pluthera of tattoos all over their body, kept making waves and trying to tip us over (I had a child who was 5 in my lap). The kids were screaming in fear and I stood up and demanded they stop. After they went away, they were yelling threats at me and my family. We promptly left the lake instead of getting into trouble. These Hayvanstancis are so barbaric, they will kill you instead of lose an argument.
The next body of water I visit will be in Jamaica, Cozumel, Acapulco, or the British Virgin Islands, where true hospitality exists. FUCK ARMENIA, KUNEM HAYVANSTAN!
The next body of water I visit will be in Jamaica, Cozumel, Acapulco, or the British Virgin Islands, where true hospitality exists. FUCK ARMENIA, KUNEM HAYVANSTAN!
May 2003, My experience in a retail store, Yerevan
This story is about those Armenians, in the diaspora, who waste their time, money, and energy on the trash that is strewn across Armenia. I'm not talking about the litter or the cigarette cartons, but the people. Armenians, stop wasting your time, on these apes, called Hayvanstancis. What has happened to all of the money that has been sent to Armenia over the past 20 years? I don't see any difference there, hardly. Same old construction projects of the rich and wanna-be-Hollywood famous. I know where the money ha sbeen spent, on American Jepp Hummers, Land Rovers, and a few Maybachs...oh, yeah, add in a few chateaus in France on top of that.
My cousin and I we went to buy bleach in a reputable shopping store in "KENTRON". While purchasing the bleach , noticed it dripping on my clothes!! Asked cashier to call manager, manager came out and blamed me for the leak, would not return money or even exchange the bleach, much less pay for the damages caused to my clothes and possibly exposure to a dangerous chemical. I politely explained to the owner of store that I did not cause this that the bleach was defective. The manager approached me in a threatening way answas going to physically assault me . That's your great Hayastan that most of you do not even live in!
My cousin and I we went to buy bleach in a reputable shopping store in "KENTRON". While purchasing the bleach , noticed it dripping on my clothes!! Asked cashier to call manager, manager came out and blamed me for the leak, would not return money or even exchange the bleach, much less pay for the damages caused to my clothes and possibly exposure to a dangerous chemical. I politely explained to the owner of store that I did not cause this that the bleach was defective. The manager approached me in a threatening way answas going to physically assault me . That's your great Hayastan that most of you do not even live in!
Armenian Gangs in L.A. - - Hayvanstanci Leader
The collapse of the Soviet Union prompted a massive wave of Armenian immigration into Los Angeles County, California, primarily in the communities of East Hollywood, North Hollywood, Hollywood, Pasadena, Burbank and Glendale. Faced with pressure from Mexican and Salvadoran gang members in the area, young Armenians in East Hollywood grouped together to form Armenian Power.Armenian-American street gangs are not large in terms of numbers but are violent and influential enough to allegedly be involved in Mexican Mafia peace talks between Hispanic gangs. The Armenian Power gang was a quickly growing gang in Hollywood and Glendale which formed partnerships with other gangs. The gang's main enemies are Toonerville Rifa 13, The Avenues (gang) and MS-13. Armen Petrosyan was the founder and leader of Armenian Power, also known as Silent.
In May 2000, a Latino gang member shot and killed a former leader of Hollywood's Armenian Power gang in a deli in East Hollywood where the Armenian gang held turf.
In Hollywood an Armenian immigrant group — Armenian Power (AP) — were believed to be responsible for a dozen driveby murders by mid- 1997.
In May 2000, a Latino gang member shot and killed a former leader of Hollywood's Armenian Power gang in a deli in East Hollywood where the Armenian gang held turf.
In Hollywood an Armenian immigrant group — Armenian Power (AP) — were believed to be responsible for a dozen driveby murders by mid- 1997.
ATM scam - Invented in Armenia #3
Devices to skim payment card information have become a big problem, whether they are portable devices used by dishonest employees at restaurants, PIN pads replaced at merchants, or devices mounted on ATM machines.Many of the devices used recently -- use wireless technology -- and the card details are transmitted to fraudsters, normally sitting in a vehicle with a laptop.The San Diego Regional Fraud Task Force is hot on the trail of two suspects, photographed using some of the cloned cards. Cloned cards are counterfeit devices made with the information skimmed from legitimate (credit/debit) payment cards.Unfortunately, most of the equipment to do this, can be purchased, legally. Some of this equipment is even being sold over the Internet. Loose controls on the sale of this technology -- enables a lot of criminal activity, makes it harder for law enforcement to investigate -- and a lot of people are being victimized by it.SignOnSanDiego.com reports:
Police are warning ATM users that scammers are using high-tech devices to steal their bank account information, including debit and credit cards numbers and personal identification codes.Police have released photos taken from surveillance video of two suspects. Anyone with information about either man is asked to call the task force at (619) 744-2534 or the U.S. Secret Service at (619) 557-5640. The pictures of the current people of interest in this case are featured above (to the left).I did a post with some interesting pictures of an ATM skimming device, which are pretty educational, can be seen. A lot of the skimming in the United States seems to be tied into Armenian organized crime. Glendale, which is a couple of hours North of San Diego, seems to be where a lot of this activity originates.
Police are warning ATM users that scammers are using high-tech devices to steal their bank account information, including debit and credit cards numbers and personal identification codes.Police have released photos taken from surveillance video of two suspects. Anyone with information about either man is asked to call the task force at (619) 744-2534 or the U.S. Secret Service at (619) 557-5640. The pictures of the current people of interest in this case are featured above (to the left).I did a post with some interesting pictures of an ATM skimming device, which are pretty educational, can be seen. A lot of the skimming in the United States seems to be tied into Armenian organized crime. Glendale, which is a couple of hours North of San Diego, seems to be where a lot of this activity originates.
ATM scam #2 - Invented in Armenia
Man sentenced for market PIN pad scam
November 30, 2007
PROVIDENCE, R.I.—A California man has been sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison for his role in a criminal ring that stole financial information from Stop & Shop customers and used it to illegally siphon $132,000 from shoppers.
more stories like this
Arutyun Shatarevyan, 20, of Los Angeles previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy and identity fraud. As an Armenian immigrant, he will probably face deportation, his defense attorney, Alex Kessel, said.
Shatarevyan and three other California men were arrested in Coventry on Feb. 26 as they attempted to perform the scheme at a supermarket check-out lane.
Investigators say the men would enter supermarkets late at night, distract the cashier and swap a PIN pad with an alternate machine that recorded each customer's financial data. They could swap the equipment in as little as 12 seconds, prosecutors said.
After a while, the men would return, retrieve the machines and harvest the credit and debit card information. At least six supermarkets in Rhode Island and Massachusetts were targeted, and 238 people lost money.
One co-defendant, Mikael Stepanian, 28, had a laptop inside his hotel room that allowed him to create ATM cards using information downloaded from the PIN pad machines. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 6.
Two other defendants already have received prison terms for their role in the plot. Arman Ter-Esayan was sentenced to six years in federal prison, while Gevork Baltadjian was ordered to serve just over five years.
Stop & Shop is a unit of Royal Ahold.
November 30, 2007
PROVIDENCE, R.I.—A California man has been sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison for his role in a criminal ring that stole financial information from Stop & Shop customers and used it to illegally siphon $132,000 from shoppers.
more stories like this
Arutyun Shatarevyan, 20, of Los Angeles previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy and identity fraud. As an Armenian immigrant, he will probably face deportation, his defense attorney, Alex Kessel, said.
Shatarevyan and three other California men were arrested in Coventry on Feb. 26 as they attempted to perform the scheme at a supermarket check-out lane.
Investigators say the men would enter supermarkets late at night, distract the cashier and swap a PIN pad with an alternate machine that recorded each customer's financial data. They could swap the equipment in as little as 12 seconds, prosecutors said.
After a while, the men would return, retrieve the machines and harvest the credit and debit card information. At least six supermarkets in Rhode Island and Massachusetts were targeted, and 238 people lost money.
One co-defendant, Mikael Stepanian, 28, had a laptop inside his hotel room that allowed him to create ATM cards using information downloaded from the PIN pad machines. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 6.
Two other defendants already have received prison terms for their role in the plot. Arman Ter-Esayan was sentenced to six years in federal prison, while Gevork Baltadjian was ordered to serve just over five years.
Stop & Shop is a unit of Royal Ahold.
US ATM scams - Invented by Hayvanstancis #1
ATM Scam Connected To Wilmington Pharmacy, Police Say
The FBI has jumped into the investigation of a major ATM scam in the local area.
The NBC 10 investigators first told you about dozens of victims and the arrest of two men in July.
Sources are calling this an Armenian organized crime ring.
Last week two men were charged with stealing from dozens of ATM accounts in Tredyfferin Township and now the FBI said it has connected the scam to a Wilmington pharmacy.
The FBI said Artur Grigoryan and his partner, Artur Harutyunyan, had a slick operation at the Rite Aid Pharmacy in North Wilmington.
Agents claim the two men replaced a real card swipe keypad with a skimming device that looked just like it, for a month. The FBI believes the skimmer collected ATM card and pin numbers.
Then police believe the men put that stolen information on gift cards and then withdrew money from dozens of bank accounts without victims ever knowing.
The FBI said the suspects usually went to automated teller machines at Wawas to make the withdrawals.
We're told police have been looking for the men for months, believing they have been moving from state to state.
An Upper Merion police officer recognized one of them at a King Of Prussia Wawa a couple of weeks ago and made the first arrest.
Rite Aid said it has updated all of it's debit card scanners to help prevent this from happening again.
The two men have a preliminary hearing Thursday morning.
The FBI has jumped into the investigation of a major ATM scam in the local area.
The NBC 10 investigators first told you about dozens of victims and the arrest of two men in July.
Sources are calling this an Armenian organized crime ring.
Last week two men were charged with stealing from dozens of ATM accounts in Tredyfferin Township and now the FBI said it has connected the scam to a Wilmington pharmacy.
The FBI said Artur Grigoryan and his partner, Artur Harutyunyan, had a slick operation at the Rite Aid Pharmacy in North Wilmington.
Agents claim the two men replaced a real card swipe keypad with a skimming device that looked just like it, for a month. The FBI believes the skimmer collected ATM card and pin numbers.
Then police believe the men put that stolen information on gift cards and then withdrew money from dozens of bank accounts without victims ever knowing.
The FBI said the suspects usually went to automated teller machines at Wawas to make the withdrawals.
We're told police have been looking for the men for months, believing they have been moving from state to state.
An Upper Merion police officer recognized one of them at a King Of Prussia Wawa a couple of weeks ago and made the first arrest.
Rite Aid said it has updated all of it's debit card scanners to help prevent this from happening again.
The two men have a preliminary hearing Thursday morning.
Interpol's most wanted - The Hayvanstan "Platoon"
For a small country of 3 million with a so-called "moral society with a rich history",
this is quite a list.
http://www.interpol.int/Public/Search.asp
HARUTYUNIAN, ARA
GYULNAZARYAN, ARTUR
HAKOBYAN, KAMSAR
HARUTYUNYAN, JIVAN
HOVHANNISYAN, MARTIN
KHACHATRYAN, TIGRAN
MALKHASYAN, MARTIN
SARGSYAN, ARAKEL
SIRADEGHYAN, VANO
TUNYAN, NAREK
GRIGORYAN, ARAIK
YEREMYAN, ANDRANIK
ALEKSANYAN, GRISHA
BARSEGYAN, SASHA
KHACHATRIAN, ARTEM
SARKISIAN, KAREN
TAMOYAN, DZHAMAL
BABAYAN, ARTAVAZD
MNATSAKANYAN, MNATSAKAN
NESTSERAU, DZENIS
PETANIAN, ARAM
SOLOVYEV, YURIY
this is quite a list.
http://www.interpol.int/Public/Search.asp
HARUTYUNIAN, ARA
GYULNAZARYAN, ARTUR
HAKOBYAN, KAMSAR
HARUTYUNYAN, JIVAN
HOVHANNISYAN, MARTIN
KHACHATRYAN, TIGRAN
MALKHASYAN, MARTIN
SARGSYAN, ARAKEL
SIRADEGHYAN, VANO
TUNYAN, NAREK
GRIGORYAN, ARAIK
YEREMYAN, ANDRANIK
ALEKSANYAN, GRISHA
BARSEGYAN, SASHA
KHACHATRIAN, ARTEM
SARKISIAN, KAREN
TAMOYAN, DZHAMAL
BABAYAN, ARTAVAZD
MNATSAKANYAN, MNATSAKAN
NESTSERAU, DZENIS
PETANIAN, ARAM
SOLOVYEV, YURIY
Smoking in Hayvanstan
Armenia 's National Tobacco Control Program
With more than 70% of the population smoking, Armenia ranks sixth in the number of smokers in the world and number one in Europe .
WHO estimates that 63.7 % of Armenian men smoke, which makes them the heaviest smokers in Europe (2005-2006). According to the American Journal of Public Health (94: 2177 - 87, 2004), Armenia tops the list of the former eight Soviet Union republics in the prevalence of smoking among males. Armenians spend $25million a year on cigarettes (ITAR-TASS ( Russia ), 2004-03-18). The consequences are increases in diseases of the lung, cardiovascular diseases, as well as malignant tumors and allergy.
The spread of smoking among adolescents and women is especially disturbing. About 250 million women in the world are smokers: 22% in developed and 50% in developing countries. In Armenia about 15-30% of women of reproductive age are regular smokers ( different sources, 2005-2006). While there are no reliable statistics for the number of women smokers in Armenia , there is a trend towards increasing smoking among women .
With more than 70% of the population smoking, Armenia ranks sixth in the number of smokers in the world and number one in Europe .
WHO estimates that 63.7 % of Armenian men smoke, which makes them the heaviest smokers in Europe (2005-2006). According to the American Journal of Public Health (94: 2177 - 87, 2004), Armenia tops the list of the former eight Soviet Union republics in the prevalence of smoking among males. Armenians spend $25million a year on cigarettes (ITAR-TASS ( Russia ), 2004-03-18). The consequences are increases in diseases of the lung, cardiovascular diseases, as well as malignant tumors and allergy.
The spread of smoking among adolescents and women is especially disturbing. About 250 million women in the world are smokers: 22% in developed and 50% in developing countries. In Armenia about 15-30% of women of reproductive age are regular smokers ( different sources, 2005-2006). While there are no reliable statistics for the number of women smokers in Armenia , there is a trend towards increasing smoking among women .
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