LOS ANGELES—Attorneys Mark Geragos and Brian Kabateck filed a law suit in Los Angeles County Superior Court Friday, alleging their one-time partners in the genocide survivor insurance settlement case, Vartkes Yeghiayan and Rita Mahdessian, defrauded the community by diverting settlement funds to fictitious charities, reported the Daily Journal on March 14.
The suit alleges that the funds were to be donated to existing community organizations, as mandated by the ruling on two class action law suits in Los Angles federal court that sought life insurance money for family and descendants of the Armenian Genocide survivors and victims.
In the lawsuit, Geragos and Kabateck are alleging that Yeghiayan and Mahdessian misappropriated some $1 million slated for Armenian community organization in what is known as a cy pres settlement—funds that are to be distributed to charity instead of individuals.
One such organization cited in the lawsuit goes by the name of Conservatoire de la Memoire Armenienne, which the suit alleges is listed at a non-existent address on Avenue des Champs Elysee. The Daily Journal reported the charity received $300,000 out of the $3 million settlement money earmarked for community organizations in the original lawsuit. This sum was earmarked to be distributed to France-based Armenian organizations to be allocated to educational programs to assist the needy.
“It’s extremely disturbing,” Geragos told the Daily Journal, while Kabateck said he was “personally disgusted.”
Yeghiayan denied the allegations made in the lawsuit in an interview with the Daily Journal, adding that Geragos and Kabatech were “pissed off” because they were left “out of” other genocide settlement cases.
In discussing the case with the Daily Journal, Yeghiayan accused Geragos and Kabateck of “hoarding more than $17 million,” reported the Daily Journal.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. The cases in question were against New York Life and other insurance companies and were settled in 2004 and 2005.
Amot mezi ! Amot ! Is this all about money and personal fame ? You know who is celebrating this news my fellow Armenians? Where is the national pride in being an Armenian and doing things for your people? No body is expecting pro bono work from anybody, but stealing from blood money? Or suing without any base for fame using blood money as a vehicle ? Disgusting, humiliating ,embarrassing and a disgrace to our Nation! Our martyrs are turning in their grave ! Shame !
Bravo Geragos yev Kabateck
This is why we’ll never win
This is nothing new. It has happened with the Jews too.
We remember the lawsuit filed by Archbishop Mutafyan to prevent the closure of Melkonian Eductational Institute back in 2005. We have also followed the ongoing battle between the Armenian Assembly and Kafesjian over the Armenian Genocide Museum in Washington DC.
http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/world/news/63997/
But the latest lawsuit by Geragos over the allegation of fraud by Yeghiayan is becoming a trend of lawsuits and accusations of members of the same group, the same cause. For a century, the AGBU and Patriarchate of Istanbul did maintain full cooperation to keep Melkonian Institute alive. All Armenians (I suppose) were excited to have a Genocide museum in Washington DC too. Now, Melkonian Institute just lives in the memory of its alumni and Armenian Genocide museum is a wishful attempt and may never be realized. But the latest news of Geragos and Yeghiayan is just another nail on the coffin of Armenian Genocide recognition and retributions. In my view, people involved with the above lawsuits have symptoms listed in the following page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mental_disorders_as_defined_by_the_DSM_and_ICD
The memories and the belongings of the Armenians suffered the Genocide are not the toys of mediocre lawyers who got hit the effects of recent recession. I could not decide whether to laugh or to cry when I read the following accusations by Geragos and the like. This is beyond any human capacity to understand how the first tragedy of humanity can be used by these high fly personalities. This is worse than childish and unimaginable.
Can we not pull together and achieve our goal? Are we truly that broken? Did they actually destroy us in 1915-1923 and are we just taking a long time to die…hanging on to those last few breaths with all we have, only to simply succumb to the inevitable. Is anyone still Armenian enough to fight this?
I am surprised that both sides let it go this far. I guess they could not sit down and resolve the issues. If the charitable foundation is factitious then the issue could be resolved quickly. Call me paranoid, but I do not think we are reading the whole story.
Postcard from Zombieland:
They no longer breath Araratian air or feel the wind blowing through the valleys.
The springs trickling from icy heights no longer fill their water jars to make their soup.
They endlessly sort lentils mixed with someone else’s soil and stones.
Their bread from wheat grown in distant lands can’t nourish the undead.
Zurnas keep time with the beat of a strange heart.
The music of the birds of the Anatolian plains no longer inspire their songs.
The voices of angels bounce off the crumbling, ancient stones.
There is no one left to feel the reverberation and hear their maker calling,
“Wish you were here.”
(copyright, 3/16/2011)
such a poignant poem. Have you been? Do you have family stories that led to this poem? I would love to correspond.
Your poetry is beautiful, ananoon. It’s moving melancholy touched my heart. Please let us know if you have published this in a book, or if you do publish.
Thanks for your kind words, Perouz. I am an amateur and have not published. This started as a comment that turned into a poem. I guess the aching disappointment over the news moved me today.
Ananoon: I want to encourage you to submit this poem to good magazines – try the New Yorker, Harpers, etc. for publication. Send it to good quality political magazines. Send it to newspapers. Join a writer’s group. Your poem is too powerful to let it just be buried in this column’s comments. Trust me; you are not an “amateur.” Go for it.
Thanks again for the encouragement, Perouz.
I wonder why Mr. Yeghiayan waited so long to tell us that the others had 17 million dollars from our blood money. He knew better than anybody, if you cover up a crime you are as well as guilty.Why he did not do anything up to this moment? We have too many questions from them, and I hope they will give us the right answers.
I want back all the documentations I sent in for the case against New York Life and other insurance companies, specificly the old photograph of my Grand Mother and her children, which carries the Stamp of One Way Out (Exodus)from Tikranakerd. I don’t want any money, only the Photograph.
I’m with you, Vazken. I also want all my documentation back, as well as all the highly personal information those forms required. I didn’t send photographs, but I sent old newspaper articles that I want back. Where did all the extensive personal family information we had to submit end up? Who has it? Has it all been shredded? It has been impossible for me to get answers. I bought identity theft insurance in order to protect myself from anyone’s use of the information on those forms. Since I don’t know who might still have access to my personal information, I continue to pay for this insurance.
Carel: Many of us are aware that Ananoon is an exceptional poet. We want her to continue writing and publishing. Her work is very sensitive, and as you can see, it is highly polished, very professional. This is not the work of an amateur. We all want to be in contact with her. We want to encourage her to continue writing. I don’t think she is aware of how exceptional her poetry is.