{"id":54546,"date":"2023-10-30T14:55:45","date_gmt":"2023-10-30T21:55:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=54546"},"modified":"2023-10-30T14:55:45","modified_gmt":"2023-10-30T21:55:45","slug":"man-sentenced-to-more-than-six-years-for-laundering-3-million-in-fraudulently-obtain-job-benefits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=54546","title":{"rendered":"Man Sentenced to More Than Six Years for Laundering $3 Million in Fraudulently Obtain Job Benefits"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0LOS ANGELES<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"A Glendale man was sentenced Monday to six years and six months in federal prison for laundering at least $3 million in fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance (UI) benefits, according to officials.<\/span><\/p>\n

Arman Nikogosyan and his accomplices fraudulently obtained it during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/span><\/p>\n

United States District Judge John F. Walter sentenced Arman Nikogosyan, 45, and ordered him to pay $3 million in restitution.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nikogosyan pleaded guilty on March 27 to one count of conspiracy to launder money.<\/span><\/p>\n

Starting in 2020 and continuing until December of that year, Nikogosyan became a member of a conspiracy to launder fraudulently obtained jobless benefits. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"In furtherance of the conspiracy, Nikogosyan arranged to receive the cash proceeds of the unemployment fraud scheme in which his co-conspirators applied for UI benefits in the names of other people and then used debit cards issued by a major bank to withdraw the fraudulently obtained funds.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2020, Congress expanded UI benefit amounts and duration and expanded UI eligibility to more workers in response to the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Employment Development Department (EDD) is the agency that administers UI benefits in California.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nikogosyan knew the cash was proceeds from the jobless benefits fraud and had some of it deposited under assumed names, including those of shell companies. Nikogosyan then had the illicitly obtained funds sent abroad and used to purchase gold to conceal their source, ownership, and location.<\/span><\/p>\n

During this conspiracy, Nikogosyan laundered at least $3 million in fraudulently obtained proceeds that his co-conspirators brought to him in cash.<\/span><\/p>\n

In December 2020, law enforcement seized $194,497 in cash from Nikogosyan\u2019s residence, which was the proceeds of the fraudulent scheme.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"“When confronted with the COVID pandemic that has claimed the lives of almost seven million people worldwide to date, [Nikogosyan] instead saw an opportunity to bilk taxpayers out of the emergency funds their government generously made available to protect those who lost their jobs,\u201d prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. \u201cSuch criminal opportunism during a global health and economic emergency is egregious.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In separate cases, some of Nikogosyan\u2019s co-conspirators received prison sentences for their crimes:<\/span><\/p>\n