Eight Armenians Arrested in Los Angeles

Eight Armenians have been arrested in Los Angeles on charges of bank fraud. According to the website of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency,

the indictment states that the defendants used bank accounts to issue checks against other bank accounts obtained through fraudulent means. The suspects allegedly exploited banking regulations, which allowed them to transfer money from one account to another, and then immediately withdraw the funds at ATMs in Las Vegas casinos or other locations. In this manner, they fraudulently used 331 Armenian passports to steal more than $1.5 million from Bank of America.

Those arrested include 48-year-old Ara Malakhasyan, 38-year-old Smbat Khachumyan, 45-year-old Sveta Khachumyan (Smbat Khachumyan's sister and Ara Malakhasyan's wife), 30-year-old Harutyun Petrosyan, 34-year-old Artur Harutyunyan, 38-year-old Khachatur Chobanyan, 49-year-old Jivan Hakhnazaryan, and 37-year-old Arman Grigoryan.

Another suspect, 29-year-old Artak Hokhoyan, has agreed to surrender to authorities.

All of them face up to 30 years in prison.