Calabasas Lawyer, Armenian Organized Crime Figure, Sentenced To Prison: DOJ

CALABASAS, CA — A Calabasas lawyer with ties to Armenian organized crime was sentenced Monday to six months in prison for bribing federal agents and committing fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Edgar Sargsyan, 39, who had law offices in Beverly Hills, agreed in 2020 to plead guilty to two counts of bribing a public official, two counts of making false statements to federal investigators and conspiracy to commit bank fraud. His sentence handed down Monday also includes six months of home detention, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Sargsyan admitted to paying a Homeland Security investigator at least $77,000 in return for assistance that included the agent searching law enforcement databases to obtain information that he passed to Sargsyan, prosecutors said.

The agent also altered a federal database to make it "more likely" that a foreign national — a client of Sargsyan's — would be allowed to enter the U.S. Additionally, the agent prepared a document on Homeland Security Investigations letterhead in an unsuccessful attempt to have one of the lawyer's Armenian relatives admitted to the U.S., according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Sargsyan also admitted to paying an FBI agent monthly cash bribes of up to $10,000 in exchange for "protection," in which the agent searched law enforcement databases and warned Sargsyan to avoid certain people who were under criminal investigation, prosecutors said.

The agent, Babak Broumand, was sentenced to six years in prison earlier this year for his crimes, which also included accepting private jet flights, a Ducati motorcycle, hotel stays, escorts, meals and more from Sargsyan, prosecutors said.

Sargsyan's false statements charges arise from interviews with law enforcement in September 2017 when Sargsyan falsely stated that the $30,000 check to Broumand was a loan, and in December 2018, when he falsely told special agents with the FBI and Homeland Security that he did not pay bribes to the FBI agent, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Sargsyan also admitted participating in a conspiracy that defrauded financial institutions by fraudulently obtaining credit cards in the names of foreign nationals who had previously been in the United States on visitor visas, prosecutors said.

Once the credit cards were issued by the financial institutions, Sargsyan and his co-conspirator charged "purchases," including more than $941,000 that Sargsyan personally charged at two businesses he controlled, prosecutors said.

Broumand was found guilty in October 2022 in downtown Los Angeles of conspiracy, bribery of a public official, and monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity.

City News Service contributed to this report.