[ad_1]
4 influential California lawmakers referred to as this week for an investigation right into a $17.5-million class-action settlement on behalf of Armenian genocide victims {that a} Occasions investigation discovered had been marred by fraud, diverted funds and a rejection price of 92%.
U.S. Reps. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough) and Anna Eshoo (D-Menlo Park), the one Armenian People in Congress, together with Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) and state Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, stated they have been disgusted by misconduct The Occasions detailed in a report final week.
“I’m deeply involved and outraged by the problems raised,” Portantino stated in an announcement. “The Armenian Genocide was a horrendous historic atrocity and descendants of these murdered shouldn’t be victimized or be denied their rightful settlements.”
Three Armenian American attorneys from Los Angeles, together with distinguished attorneys Mark Geragos and Brian Kabateck, secured the settlement with the French insurance coverage firm AXA a decade and a half in the past. The funds have been imagined to compensate the households of genocide victims with unpaid insurance coverage insurance policies and help Armenian charities chosen by a French nonprofit.
The Occasions investigation discovered that that the French nonprofit was by no means established; among the cash was despatched to the pet charities of attorneys concerned within the case, together with their alma mater; and a whole lot of 1000’s of {dollars} have been directed to sham claimants. Lower than 8% of claims submitted by Armenians world wide have been authorized, regardless of what in lots of circumstances was overwhelming proof that the candidates have been rightful heirs.
“It’s clear by the dismal claims approval price and finger-pointing that one thing is rotten in Denmark, or Glendale, or France because the case could also be,” stated Speier, the co-chair of the Congressional Armenian Caucus, in an announcement.
Schiff, who represents Glendale, dwelling to a sizable Armenian neighborhood, and is chair of the highly effective Home Intelligence Committee, stated he was involved by the “ordeal” confronted by descendants of the genocide.
“I believe all of us who learn these tales have been horrified that among the survivors and their households could have been victimized once more,” Schiff stated in an announcement. “I totally help an investigation to make sure all such survivors get the compensation they deserve.”
Eshoo agreed that “a full investigation” was “completely warranted,” including: “It’s shameful that fraudsters are benefiting from the ache of the Armenian neighborhood.”
The settlement in U.S. District Court docket in Los Angeles was overseen by Decide Christina A. Snyder from shortly after its submitting in 1999. The Occasions described how varied events — the Armenian Ministry of Justice, claimants, a lead lawyer within the case and a court-appointed French settlement board — voiced considerations to Snyder concerning the dealing with of claims and settlement funds over a interval of years.
Among the many irregularities was the award of some $575,000 to a Syrian man who had by no means utilized for compensation, and funds totaling $400,000 to an Iraqi man whose existence couldn’t be verified. A few of these funds have been transformed to cashier’s checks in Southern California. Moreover, a minimum of $750,000 that was imagined to go to non secular organizations by no means arrived, church officers advised The Occasions.
Snyder greenlit some investigative efforts to uncover misconduct, however repeatedly denied a whole audit of the settlement.
“The court docket’s refusal to grant an unbiased audit is equally puzzling,” Speier stated within the assertion.
Associated: Learn The Occasions investigation in Armenian
Snyder beforehand advised The Occasions that the judicial code of conduct barred her from talking concerning the settlement. She formally closed the case in 2016. Geragos and Kabateck, each descendants of genocide survivors, denied any wrongdoing in statements from representatives.
They’ve blamed others for the issues within the claims course of, together with different attorneys and a claims administrator, and identified that hundreds of thousands of {dollars} did go to Armenian charitable causes. Kabateck’s consultant famous that cash they despatched to his and Geragos’ alma mater, Loyola Legislation Faculty, was used to determine a genocide legislation middle. Each famous that, regardless of complaints concerning the settlement to the State Bar of California, which polices the authorized career, and legislation enforcement companies, there have been no felony prices in opposition to the 2 attorneys or findings of misconduct on their half.
The Occasions’ investigation relied on newly unsealed data, emails amongst attorneys and confidential settlement data. Authorities beforehand took motion in opposition to three different attorneys in reference to the settlement. A Beverly Hills lawyer, Berj Boyajian, pleaded no contest in Superior Court docket to a felony and a misdemeanor cost in reference to making false claims to the State Bar and finally served no jail time. He later resigned his legislation license.
The bar moved in opposition to the legislation licenses of Vartkes Yeghiayan, a Glendale lawyer who labored on the circumstances with Geragos and Kabateck, and his spouse for allegedly misappropriating charity cash. The case in opposition to her was thrown out. Yeghiayan died earlier than trial.
Some Armenians in France and the U.S. have campaigned to carry accountable further figures within the settlement. As not too long ago as final yr, a member of the court-appointed French settlement board urged the L.A. County District Legal professional to launch a brand new probe and related requests have been made lately to the State Bar. There is no such thing as a statute of limitations for investigations initiated by the bar into potential lawyer misconduct.
Speier, the Bay Space congresswoman, raised the potential of an investigation by the state auditor or state insurance coverage commissioner.
Portantino stated he needed “continued investigation and transparency till the rightful recipients are justly compensated and any and all actions of potential wrongdoing are uncovered and correctly handled.”
The settlement and a previous case in opposition to the insurer New York Life have been lauded by Armenians within the mid-2000s. On the time, the neighborhood was nonetheless preventing for the U.S. authorities and others to acknowledge the 1915 genocide as a historic reality. President Biden lastly acknowledged the genocide final yr.
In 2018, the Armenian Bar Assn. — knowledgeable group for Armenian American attorneys — feted Snyder at its annual banquet with Kabateck, one of many attorneys within the AXA case, proclaiming, “Each choose ought to take classes from the Honorable Christina Snyder.”
Within the wake of The Occasions investigation, the Armenian Bar Assn. expressed “profound disappointment and concern” over the involvement of Armenian American attorneys within the improprieties.
“If true, these allegations not solely violate the moral aspirations of the Armenian Bar Assn.’s membership, however they signify a grave breach of our group’s core values,” the group’s board stated in an announcement.
[ad_2]
Source link
