Glendale man pleads guilty to mailing scam that netted $1.66 million
A Glendale man behind a mass-mailing scam that collected more than $1 million pleaded guilty this week to mail fraud and money laundering, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
On Monday, Artashes Darbinyan, 37, was in federal court, where he admitted to collecting $1.66 million as part of the mailing scam. Another Glendale man, 42-year-old Orbel Hakobyan, pleaded guilty to helping him launder the money.
Darbinyan solicited money through the mail using a pair of companies called the Trademark Compliance Center and the Trademark Compliance Office, according to the Department of Justice.
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Under the auspices of the companies, he offered prospective applicants trademark infringement monitoring and help registering a trademark with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency in return for $385.
Neither service was ever provided.
The Department of Justice said Darbinyan was able to conceal the scam by using a series of stolen identities to open up virtual office centers in Washington, D.C. Money sent by victims was received at these fronts before being forwarded to another series of centers based in Los Angeles.
Darbinyan also used the stolen identities to open bank accounts with Wells Fargo to launder the money. Hakobyan then helped with the money laundering by withdrawing funds from the accounts in the form of cash or a cashier’s check, which were then used to purchase gold.
The two are scheduled to be sentenced on June 19.
Albert Yagubyan, the former branch manager of the Wells Fargo where a majority of the laundering took place, was also arrested in connection with the scam. The 36-year-old Burbank resident is currently awaiting trial.
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Andy Nguyen, andy.nguyen@latimes.com
Twitter: @Andy_Truc
