(PatriotsUnited.org) – On July 8th the Department of Justice (DOJ) said it would seize a huge California mansion linked to an Armenian corruption racket.
The $63 million 11-bedroom chateau-style home has been evidenced to have ties to Gagik Khachatryan, Armenia’s ex-finance minister, now embroiled in a bribery scandal. The Khachatryan family property will be sold by the DOJ, with the federal government keeping 85 percent of the profit. The leftover money will be offered to Khachatryan’s sons and the business they head up.
In 2011 Khachatryan’s sons’ trust took on the luxurious mansion with loaned funds allegedly funneled via an Armenian entrepreneur. Back then Khachatryan was Armenia’s top taxes and customs official. The DOJ has since claimed that these ”loans,” which were mysteriously extended and never repaid, were simply bribes in disguise.
This sketchy series of foreign payments also sits at the apex of continuing criminal probes back in Armenia. Martin Estrada, a U.S. Attorney, has emphasized the United States’ tough approach to corruption as the post-Soviet state continues to grapple with its own challenges. Estrada said in a public statement that the U.S. refused to “tolerate corruption” and that it would not permit foreign politicians to launder their “ill-gotten gains” in the U.S. He said he hoped that this latest seizure would be an incentive against other such schemes attempting to achieve corrupt ends in America.
The seizure is a major victory in the DOJ’s attempt to crack down on international corruption on U.S. soil. Many elements of the American Revolution were a response to perceived shortcomings and corruption in the British Empire. Corruption has been a long-running issue in the U.S., like many other countries, although its peak appeared to decline following the governmental reforms of the Progressive Era-many spearheaded by Theodore Roosevelt- which ended around 1917. There are ongoing scandals involving alleged business and political corruption related to progressive figures linked to China and Ukraine.
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