HSBC files reveal dirty business of Armenian cleric

/By AzerNews/

By Mushvig Mehdiyev

A team of journalists from 45 countries have dug out secret bank accounts of criminals, traffickers, tax dodgers, politicians and celebrities in a well-known bank HSBC.

The secret documents revealed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists claim that the global banking giant HSBC pocketed huge cash from doing business with arms dealers who channeled mortar bombs to child soldiers in Africa, bag men for Third World dictators, traffickers in blood diamonds and other international outlaws.

The top-secret Swiss banking system, an impregnable fortress, fell down on knees after the leaked files, based on the inner workings of HSBC’s Swiss private banking arm, shed a rare light on the clandestine activity related with accounts holding nearly $120 billion.

The Head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Karekin II, has been profiled among the numerous celebrities in the project published by the ICIJ.

The profile of Karekin II that appeared in the IJIC website shows him among the HSBC clients in 2000. He was connected to an account named His Holiness Karekin II Nersis that held as much as $1.1 million in 2006-2007. The leaked files do not specify the exact role that Karekin II had in relation to the account.

A spokesman for the Apostolic Church told ICIJ that the account in question was opened by Karekin II's predecessor for the benefit of the Church and its charities. Later on, it was transferred to Karekin II Nersissian upon the death of his predecessor.

Karekin II is called an "extortionist" by the Armenian Diaspora because of his extreme greediness for money.

Last year, Armenians from all over the world unanimously protested against illegal activities of Karekin II, according to Thetruthmustbetold.com, a U.S.-based alternative media platform established by Ara Manoogian, a human rights activist, with the purpose of publishing investigative reports and essays corruption and human rights abuse in Armenia.

Clerics from Yerevan, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Riga, Tallinn, Stockholm, Milan, Geneva, Paris, London, Cologne, Berlin Istanbul and Jerusalem have put their signatures under the complaint letter to get rid of the tyranny of Karekin II, Thetruthmustbetold.com said.

The Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America in New York allocates huge money to preserve the Armenian heritage, but unwarranted and unexpected visits of Karekin II put a big spoke to their charity. Since the bank accounts of the Eastern Diocese is on the brink of closure, the catholicos follows the same path with the Armenian government to pillage the Armenian Church of America. Karekin II demands his $100,000 "bestowal" from the church whenever he visits the U.S., according to the Eastern Dicoese.

The Armenian religious society in Los Angels said they are sick of the non-stop "begging" visits of Karekin II, whose puppet representatives were building a multi-million church in the city all while the Armenian schools and other education facilities were grappling with huge debts.

Illegal business network has deeply rooted in Armenia feeding the shadow economy and filthy fortune hunters.

Last year, Gagik Makaryan, Head of the Union of Employers, said the annual level of the black market in Armenia was about $1 billion and the figure was growing regularly year by year. However, the unofficial sources believe that the shadow economy in the post-Soviet land is enjoying nearly $2 billion annual turnover.