Page 3
State Bar Announces Disbarment of Beverly Hills Attorney
By Kimber Cooley, associate editor
|
|
|
Edgar Sargsyan is seen in his law office with Gov. Gavin Newsom. The photograph was a court exhibit. The State Bar of California yesterday announced Sargsyan’s disbarrment.
|
The State Bar of California yesterday announced the third quarter disbarment of 11 attorneys, including the disgraced Edgar Sargsyan of Montebello, who was convicted of multiple felonies late last year.
Sargsyan, who ran the Beverly Hills Pillar Law Group, pled guilty to a string of criminal activities, including orchestrating a scheme that exploited the identities of noncitizens who left the U.S. following the expiration of their visas by applying for credit cards in their names and accruing charges of more than $951,153 on the accounts through businesses he controlled.
In the plea agreement, Sargsyan also admitted to paying thousands of dollars between 2015 and 2017 to federal agents.
One such agent, former FBI Special Agent Babak Broumand, was sentenced in February 2023 to six years in prison for taking monthly bribes of up to $10,000 in exchange for providing “protection” for Sargsyan, including running queries on law enforcement databases and warning the attorney to “stay away” from targets of criminal investigations.
Broumand, who worked out of the bureau’s San Francisco office, accepted the cash payments on trips to Southern California, where he stayed at luxury hotels paid for by Sargsyan. Among other gifts, Sargsyan gave a $36,000 racing motorcycle to the agent.
Prison Sentence
On Dec. 5, 2023, U.S. District Court Judge R. Gary Klausner of the Central District of California sentenced Sargsyan to six months in prison followed by six months of home confinement, taking note of the convict’s cooperation with federal officials.
According to a Los Angeles Times story in December 2023, Sargsyan had cultivated relationships with public officials, including Gov. Gavin Newsom and former President Barak Obama. He was a regular at the Grand Havana Room, a members-only cigar club in Beverly Hills, where he was seen regularly socializing with celebrities.
According to the newspaper, Sargsyan admitted that he never passed the bar exam and testified, during Broumand’s trial, that he paid his then-colleague Henrik Mosesi $140,000 to take the test on his behalf in 2015, using fraudulent identification and smudged fingerprints. Mosesi remains on active status with the State Bar and practices in Glendale.
Sargsyan was disbarred on Aug. 23.
Other Disbarments
Three other disbarments were highlighted in yesterday’s press release.
Scott David Hughes of Newport Beach was summarily disbarred in July following his conviction for his role in a Ponzi scheme and money laundering scam. Hughes was a “key figure” in the AirBit Club, which was fraudulently represented as a cryptocurrency mining and trading company.
Hughes, along with his partners, deceived investors into joining the club and paying a $1,000 membership fee under the false promise of daily profits; no trading was accomplished and the partners spent the money on personal purchases. Hughes also laundered over $8 million in Bitcoin through his client trust account, redistributing it among his accomplices and properties tied to them.
Laguna Beach attorney Lenore LuAnn Albert was disbarred in July for engaging in the unauthorized practice of law while under suspension. Despite prior suspensions in 2018 and 2019, Albert continued to practice during the active disciplinary action.
Though the State Bar Court Hearing Department recommended Albert be suspended, the State Bar Court Review Department recommended Albert’s disbarment and the California Supreme Court agreed.
Kirk Callan Endres of Jackson was disbarred in August for not meeting probation requirements imposed in a previous disciplinary action arising out of the attorney’s failing to appear at parole hearings after having accepted advance fees from inmates. After appearing at the first State Bar Court hearing on the charges, he chose not to participate further and was disbarred by default.
Copyright 2024, Metropolitan News Company