YEREVAN, July 3. /ARKA/. Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) detained July 2 the executive director of “Hayastan” All Armenian Fund on suspicion of embezzlement and misuse of funds. According to an NSS statement, under the pressure of facts, Vardanyan has confessed to misappropriating the charity’s funds, including using Armenia Fund money for online gambling.
According to the statement, Vardanyan used a Hayastan Fund credit card with a limit of 25 million drams (approximately $5,500) for online gambling. He then used donated funds to replenish the credit card account. According to his own testimony, Vardanyan then placed his own money into the charity’s accounts to compensate for the wasted money.
NSS said during the last week alone, Vardanyan used nearly 14 million drams ($29,000) from the Hayastan Fund credit card for online gambling. From 2016 to 2018 Vardanyan reportedly misappropriated approximately 130 million drams (around $270,000) for personal use.
The Hayastan pan-Armenian Fund is a tax-exempt, non-governmental, non-political corporation, established in 1994 in Los Angeles, California to carry out national projects in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. -0-