A while back I wrote about a man named "Mouse" who was being considered for high ranking position in government by the Prime Minister and I wrote about his criminal activity in the past? Well here is another one of those stories.
This time the story is about a man named Vahram Parseghyan, who is the Deputy Minister of Culture, who I happened across and found that he was fabricating stories about people in "need of medical help" and in that particular case, used Mesrop Srpazan of the Prelacy of New York to solicit funds from the Diaspora, of which he secured $4,000 from a man in Washington.
I filed a complaint with Kocharian's office back on the 22nd of November, 1999, with documentation that in an international court of law could have found Parseghyan guilty of fraud, but what ended up happening instead seems to be an opposite effect.
The last I heard of the case on an official level was on the 29th of December, 1999, when an investigator from Kocharian's office came to Stepanagert to see me. My journal entry that day reads:
"I drove to the Bazaar and parked my car and walked up to the PM's building, where they called up to Aganesyan's office and wrote me a visit slip. They sent me to the President's building and after a metal detector search, I went up to the 3rd floor, where I was invited into Avanesyan's office. There was sitting a man with him, who was from the President's (of Armenia) office. The man sitting at the table asked me if I speak Armenian? I said yes.
In front of him, he had the document pack that I had dropped off at Kocharian's office and asked me why I wrote this letter? I said the letter speaks for itself and he asked, "How do I know the facts are true?" He asked if Era (the mother of a young man whose name was used to solicit funds from the Diaspora) is familiar with this letter and does she agree with it? I said she has read the letter and she did not object to it.
He showed me some invoices that Vahram had, that showed that on 05 Aug 99, 2,000,000 dram was received by Era; 02 November 1999, 3,000,000 dram was received by Era; unknown date, $1,200 was received by Era.
I said the information Era gave me does not indicate she received this money. He said "you know that the allegations you are making are very serious as this man has a high-ranking position in government and they are threatening you [me] with a law suit." I smiled and said, "If they feel I have done something wrong, then they should sue me, but I will defend myself and hang Vahram."
He said, "so you think that these documents are fake?" I said, "I am saying that I don't believe that they received that kind of money. I believe this for many reasons, but mainly because of a $1,500 debt they have." I said, "If they received that kind of money, then they would not have that kind of debt where their relative would loose his truck to the bank, as it is his only means for work." I went on to say "They only received from Vaharam $1,000 after we started to poke around. It's clear to me that Vahram has fabricated these documents to cover his tracks."
I asked him if he had called Era and told her to go to see Vahram to see the letter and other documents that I had submitted to the President's office? He said no. I said she got a call a week or two ago and they would not tell her their name but instructed Era to go visit Vahram.
He said, "You know that the documents today show that Era has received the money and she is the one that could be in trouble." I said, "If she if she has done something wrong, then she needs to answer for what she has done."
He showed me a letter from Era as to show me what her signature looks like and said that he compared that signature to the ones on the receipts and he is convinced that they are the same. He looked to me for a reaction.
I asked to see the letter and receipts and noticed that on one of the receipts there was a very thin black line on the top and left side of the signature. I told him I believe that this signature was cut from somewhere else and pasted on the receipt and then photocopied. He looked with interest and asked me if I really think so (as if I made some new discovery). I told I'm almost sure.
I asked him if Robert or Vasken had really given $4,000 each (these are claims that Vahram had made to Mesrop Srpazan)? He said Vasken is dead and he has not yet asked Robert.
He asked me where I was from and I told him. He asked how long I have been in Karabagh and when I told him, he looked at Slava, as if they should have known this. They should have, but they don't check on people like me because that would mean they actually would have to work and do their job. He asked the standard questions about my family and so on.
He said that we need to write a couple of lines that say that what I wrote in my first letter is true. I told him I could do it in English and they would have to translate it and he said he would help me, but not to tell anyone, as it is suppose to be a statement from me to him and if he writes it, then I could sign it and later say I didn't understand what I had signed.
I told him what I wanted to say and he dictated it to a secretary who was sitting in the outer office. It basically said that everything is true and talked about the $1,500 debt and the phone call Era got a couple of weeks ago. It also mentioned my feelings about the receipts. We printed it and I signed it.
I asked him if I could have copies of the receipts and he said no, since there is an investigation going on, it is confidential information.
He gave me his official government card which read : Ara Aghababyan, 58-87-35 (this phone number no longer works).
As we were finishing, I said it's the same in America and people that are caught do everything they can to get out of it and documents like the ones that Vahram presented are worthless. I said it will be interesting to me if Kocharian gave $4,000. He shook my hand and I told him to try to get in touch with Era, as she is now in Yerevan. I got my passport and walked to the car, where I am sitting and writing."
So why am I writing about Parseghian today and what is the similarity between he and the "Mouse"? Well it seems that Parseghian is candidate to lead the president's controllers office, which from what I understand is the same office that Ara Aghababyan was working under.
I have to say that "Mouse" didn't get the position and I would hope that Kocharian has enough sense to follow the Prime Minister's lead and not select Parseghian, as it would be like putting the fox as guard of the henhouse.
This time the story is about a man named Vahram Parseghyan, who is the Deputy Minister of Culture, who I happened across and found that he was fabricating stories about people in "need of medical help" and in that particular case, used Mesrop Srpazan of the Prelacy of New York to solicit funds from the Diaspora, of which he secured $4,000 from a man in Washington.
I filed a complaint with Kocharian's office back on the 22nd of November, 1999, with documentation that in an international court of law could have found Parseghyan guilty of fraud, but what ended up happening instead seems to be an opposite effect.
The last I heard of the case on an official level was on the 29th of December, 1999, when an investigator from Kocharian's office came to Stepanagert to see me. My journal entry that day reads:
"I drove to the Bazaar and parked my car and walked up to the PM's building, where they called up to Aganesyan's office and wrote me a visit slip. They sent me to the President's building and after a metal detector search, I went up to the 3rd floor, where I was invited into Avanesyan's office. There was sitting a man with him, who was from the President's (of Armenia) office. The man sitting at the table asked me if I speak Armenian? I said yes.
In front of him, he had the document pack that I had dropped off at Kocharian's office and asked me why I wrote this letter? I said the letter speaks for itself and he asked, "How do I know the facts are true?" He asked if Era (the mother of a young man whose name was used to solicit funds from the Diaspora) is familiar with this letter and does she agree with it? I said she has read the letter and she did not object to it.
He showed me some invoices that Vahram had, that showed that on 05 Aug 99, 2,000,000 dram was received by Era; 02 November 1999, 3,000,000 dram was received by Era; unknown date, $1,200 was received by Era.
I said the information Era gave me does not indicate she received this money. He said "you know that the allegations you are making are very serious as this man has a high-ranking position in government and they are threatening you [me] with a law suit." I smiled and said, "If they feel I have done something wrong, then they should sue me, but I will defend myself and hang Vahram."
He said, "so you think that these documents are fake?" I said, "I am saying that I don't believe that they received that kind of money. I believe this for many reasons, but mainly because of a $1,500 debt they have." I said, "If they received that kind of money, then they would not have that kind of debt where their relative would loose his truck to the bank, as it is his only means for work." I went on to say "They only received from Vaharam $1,000 after we started to poke around. It's clear to me that Vahram has fabricated these documents to cover his tracks."
I asked him if he had called Era and told her to go to see Vahram to see the letter and other documents that I had submitted to the President's office? He said no. I said she got a call a week or two ago and they would not tell her their name but instructed Era to go visit Vahram.
He said, "You know that the documents today show that Era has received the money and she is the one that could be in trouble." I said, "If she if she has done something wrong, then she needs to answer for what she has done."
He showed me a letter from Era as to show me what her signature looks like and said that he compared that signature to the ones on the receipts and he is convinced that they are the same. He looked to me for a reaction.
I asked to see the letter and receipts and noticed that on one of the receipts there was a very thin black line on the top and left side of the signature. I told him I believe that this signature was cut from somewhere else and pasted on the receipt and then photocopied. He looked with interest and asked me if I really think so (as if I made some new discovery). I told I'm almost sure.
I asked him if Robert or Vasken had really given $4,000 each (these are claims that Vahram had made to Mesrop Srpazan)? He said Vasken is dead and he has not yet asked Robert.
He asked me where I was from and I told him. He asked how long I have been in Karabagh and when I told him, he looked at Slava, as if they should have known this. They should have, but they don't check on people like me because that would mean they actually would have to work and do their job. He asked the standard questions about my family and so on.
He said that we need to write a couple of lines that say that what I wrote in my first letter is true. I told him I could do it in English and they would have to translate it and he said he would help me, but not to tell anyone, as it is suppose to be a statement from me to him and if he writes it, then I could sign it and later say I didn't understand what I had signed.
I told him what I wanted to say and he dictated it to a secretary who was sitting in the outer office. It basically said that everything is true and talked about the $1,500 debt and the phone call Era got a couple of weeks ago. It also mentioned my feelings about the receipts. We printed it and I signed it.
I asked him if I could have copies of the receipts and he said no, since there is an investigation going on, it is confidential information.
He gave me his official government card which read : Ara Aghababyan, 58-87-35 (this phone number no longer works).
As we were finishing, I said it's the same in America and people that are caught do everything they can to get out of it and documents like the ones that Vahram presented are worthless. I said it will be interesting to me if Kocharian gave $4,000. He shook my hand and I told him to try to get in touch with Era, as she is now in Yerevan. I got my passport and walked to the car, where I am sitting and writing."
So why am I writing about Parseghian today and what is the similarity between he and the "Mouse"? Well it seems that Parseghian is candidate to lead the president's controllers office, which from what I understand is the same office that Ara Aghababyan was working under.
I have to say that "Mouse" didn't get the position and I would hope that Kocharian has enough sense to follow the Prime Minister's lead and not select Parseghian, as it would be like putting the fox as guard of the henhouse.
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