The ARF issues announcement

YEREVAN—The Armenian Revolutionary Federation Central Political Council (Armenian Cause) issued a declaration calling on attorneys involved in cases related to Genocide survivor settlements to immediately submit all records to an independent audit.

The declaration comes a week after attorneys Mark Geragos and Brian Kabateck filed a lawsuit if Los Angeles against their one-time partner Vartkes Yeghiayan alleging fraud in the appropriation of funds of Genocide lawsuit settlements.

Below is the declaration:

In recent days, news that two of the attorneys of the Genocide survivor insurance settlement case are accusing their co-counsel of defrauding the community by diverting settlement funds meant for Armenian national and community organizations, has caused much concern for Armenians.

Regardless of whether these accusations prove to be true, they do have the potential to shake the trust of our people concerning national issues, despite the fact that the lawsuits in question stemmed from personal interests and were initiated and led by individual attorneys.

We cannot ignore these allegations: a) because they are being made by individuals who have been in a position of knowledge; b) because the allegations pertain to the defrauding of resources, which are the property of our people as a whole and national organizations specifically.

In order to maintain –as much as possible– the trust of the Armenian people intact, we demand that the sides, independent of the court proceedings, voluntarily and immediately submit the settlement disbursements to a full and complete independent professional audit, and inform the Armenian people of the results. The process should have been carried out with such transparency from the very beginning. Now it has become urgent and critical.