5 men sentenced in 2 unrelated fraud cases

By Steve Kanigher

Friday, June 10, 2011 | 4:58 p.m.

A federal judge in Las Vegas today sentenced five men to prison in two separate fraud-related cases, Nevada's U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden said.

In one case, three men charged with stealing identities and using counterfeit credit or debit cards to withdraw money at ATMs and defrauding businesses of more than $600,000 were sentenced for their guilty pleas to conspiracy, fraud, identity theft and money laundering.

Arman Palikyan, 30, of Las Vegas, his brother, Hagob Palikyan, 33, of North Hollywood, Calif., and Ilyad Nazzal, 37, of Las Vegas, were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kent Dawson. Arman Palikyan was sentenced to 5 1⁄2 years in prison for trafficking in counterfeit access devices, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Hagob Palikyan was sentenced to two years in prison for aggravated identity theft and Nazzal was sentenced to 18 months in prison for conspiracy to commit money laundering. All three also were ordered to pay $225,332 in restitution.

Four other defendants in the case have also pleaded guilty. Armen Ambartsumyan was sentenced May 17 to 42 months in prison, Danimyar Dosunkulov was sentenced June 6 to 18 months in prison, and Gary and Artur Ambartsumyan are scheduled to be sentenced July 8. A fifth defendant, Vakhtang Gasparian, is a fugitive.

The defendants caused “skimming” equipment to be used by others at commercial businesses in and around Las Vegas to capture credit and debit card account information and personal identification numbers. The defendants then used the information to manufacture counterfeit credit and debit cards, which were used to fraudulently obtain money from ATMs and money orders from Wal-Mart in Las Vegas. The defendants relocated the scheme from California to Las Vegas to evade law enforcement and regulatory authorities.

In the other case, Dawson sentenced two California men to five years in prison for their guilty pleas to defrauding federally-insured banks and merchants in Nevada of more $5 million, Bogden said.

Adam Amadeo Battani, also known as Ayman Ahmed El-Assadi, 35, and his brother, Sam Amadeo Battani, also known as Wissam Ahmed El-Assadi, 34, of Long Beach, Calif., were also ordered to pay $5.3 million in restitution. They each pleaded guilty March 2 to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, credit/debit card fraud and money laundering.

From January 2002 to last March, the Battanis devised a scheme to steal money and goods from merchants and financial institutions using unauthorized credit cards, along with false identification documents and counterfeit checks that they unlawfully produced. The defendants relocated the fraudulent scheme from California to other areas, including Las Vegas, to evade law enforcement.

The defendants opened bank accounts and credit card accounts, as well as post office boxes in the Las Vegas area using multiple fictitious identities, officials said. The defendants funded the bank accounts with counterfeit checks drawn on fictitious business entities and banks, and used the accounts and credit cards to obtain cash, goods and services. The defendants laundered the proceeds of the criminal enterprise through other bank and credit card accounts, which were also established using fake identities. Ultimately, the defendants caused the funds to be transferred to accounts they controlled and used the money for their own benefit.

A plea agreement states that the defendants derived more than $1 million from the financial institutions and more than $5.3 million total using this scheme.

The government seized multiple computers, printers, memory cards, cameras, cell phones, 50 counterfeit drivers licenses, 24 Social Security cards, 44 unauthorized credit cards, and $10,000 from nine bank accounts held in different names.

This case was also investigated by the U.S. Secret Service and FBI, and prosecuted by Frayn.