VAN NUYS MAN RAN INVESTMENT SCAM
Priscilla Rodriguez Reporting
KNX1070, CA
June 14 2006
VAN NUYS, CA (KNX) — Melkon Gharakhanian ran an investment scam
that swindled mostly Armenian-American victims out of millions is
scheduled to be sentenced today.
Gharakhanian pleaded guilty in January to one count of mail fraud,
and faces two to four years behind bars if the judge follows the
recommendations in a plea deal he made with prosecutors.
He admitted to being one of the leaders of a Glendale investment firm
that misspent money it took from people between 1999 and 2001.
The amount calculated by Gharakhanian and prosecutors was between
two and a half million and ten million dollars in total.
The judge determined that clients lost even more than that, he could
face more jail time than the plea deal proposes.