Not even the mega-mansions are safe. In a Thursday press release, the department announced that it was “seeking the forfeiture” of a Los Angeles mega-mansion, alleging the home was purchased with millions of dollars in bribes to the family of a former Armenian official. Once known as the “super minister” for his high rank and wide-ranging responsibilities, 66-year-old Gagik Khachatryan is now in hot water with U.S. federal agents, with a Monday filing in Los Angeles federal court accusing him and his family of receiving more than $20 million in bribes from a prominent Armenian businessman allegedly looking for a tax break. Federal agents believe the bribes were then funneled into the purchase of the Holmby Hills mansion, which the Justice Department noted was recently listed for sale with a price tag of $63.5 million. Back in Armenia, Khachatryan, who was the country’s finance minister from 2014 to 2016, and his sons face separate corruption charges. (All this casts doubt on the ex-official’s rather suspiciously worded Wikipedia page, which on Thursday stated that his “two sons have never had any involvement in politics or state work, and have strictly engaged in business only.”)
