ARMENIAN CONSULATE IN LOS ANGELES ISSUES STATEMENT ON IMMIGRATION PROBE

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July 30, 2009

LOS ANGELES-Armenia’s Consulate in Los Angeles issued a statement
Thursday in response to the arrest of five individuals, including a
former Consul, charged in an immigration scam.

The Consulate said that it has been informed of the charges levied
against the five individuals of Armenian descent regarding the forgery
of immigration documents and that it is ready to offer all possible
assistance to the law enforcement authorities in the United States.

It added that Norayr Ghalumyan, the former consul and one of the five
arrested, stopped working for the consulate after 2002 and took up
permanent residence in the U.S. in 2003

Another arrested individual, Hakob Hovhannisyan, a citizen of the
U.S., used to work for the technical department at the consulate but
was dismissed in 2007.

The statement goes on to say that it expects to receive additional
details from U.S. officials, especially regarding the forgery of
consular documents.