U.S. Indicts Alleged Armenian Gang Members

[Viva_La_Revolution]

Source: WSJ

LOS ANGELES—Federal grand juries indicted dozens of alleged members and associates of a major Armenian criminal group on charges ranging from kidnapping and extortion to bank fraud and credit-card scams.

Justice Department officials say the cases illustrate the increasing sophistication and reach of organized criminal groups involving people with links to the former Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc.

Two federal indictments in Southern California charge 88 individuals, who are allegedly linked to a criminal group called Armenian Power, with racketeering and other crimes, federal officials said. Another 11 individuals were charged in related cases brought by the Los Angeles County district attorney in state court. Similar federal criminal actions were also filed Wednesday in Miami and Denver against more than a dozen individuals, some with links to Armenian Power, U.S. officials said.

Hundreds of people were victimized in fraud schemes, federal officials say. Among the alleged scams: some of the defendants installed sophisticated credit-card and debit-card "skimming" devices at Southern California outlets of a discount retail chain, 99 Cents Only Stores, and then retrieved the information from those devices to illegally create counterfeit cards. Some $2 million was allegedly stolen through this scheme

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703373404576148494252347616.html

[KoKo]

1. US Justice Department hard at work again. Good news, though.

When they go after the Banksters for scamming innocent folks globally, it will be even better news.