Lions Led By Donkeys Podcast - *PREVIEW* History of Armenia 36: The Armenian Mafia, The Mormon Cult, and the Fuel Scam

Episode Date: November 13, 2024

This is a preview. To listen to the entire episode support the show on patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/115908751?pr=true

Hey everyone, what you're about to listen to is a preview of a bonus episode that is available on our Patreon. If you like this clip, you can grab the whole episode, as well as years of other bonus content, at www.patreon.com slash lions led by donkeys. Since he was swimming in cash, he became something of a mob boss for a collection that was growing rapidly of different fraudsters, embezzlers, kidnappers, and even hitmen. We don't know if Levon ever killed anybody, but there seems to be a plausible suspicion that he ordered the deaths of like a dozen people over the years. Yeah, I mean, that gang is known for doing stuff like that, like putting hits on people. Definitely. I believe they got in trouble for like putting a hit on a federal prosecutor once. Obviously didn't succeed because they, I don't know, aren't good at it. I think they did it from a jailhouse telephone, which is not just an Armenian thing. Lots of Americans aren't good too, as we've learned. Okay. It's not just us that sucks at crime. So how did he slip through the

cracks of all of these different law enforcement agencies? Well, I know what you're probably thinking. It's that, but also terribly incompetent law enforcement because just because we have a ton of cops in the US does not mean they're good at their jobs. No. For now. Other things will come up later. Okay.

For example, he got caught defrauding the federal government of fuel taxes back in 1993. The man just slipped through the fingers of the government due to simply bad paperwork. Like the government didn't do the search for correctly. So all of the evidence got thrown out And then he dodged another even bigger charge because he pointed a loaded gun at a cop and Because Armenians if you look at the gradient of skin color we pass as white He was not immediately murdered by the LAPD

gradient of skin color we pass as white, he was not immediately murdered. By the LAPD. He got this charge thrown out by claiming self-defense. Which you know what? Good for him. Good for you. You know? That's the last time I'll say that. Soon though his orbit began to grow and his inner circle began to balloon with some people so cartoonishly corrupt they could only exist on TV or 1990s Russia. The first is probably the kind of guy someone is familiar with. Your run of the mill corrupt local cop. Sorrow Balian of the Glendale Police Department. The name is a dead gift.

Sorrow Balian, I don't know where this guy's from. Look, I'm gonna say this with a straight face as an Armenian and an American. Glendale should not have Armenian cops. It's too juicy. Listen, you hear a lot from Armenians specifically that Glendale is like the safest place in the United States. My question is safe for who? For them. They're turbo racist cops that are also their cousins.

He was a detective with the Glendale Police Department. He'd been working with the mob for years. And I mean, he's been working with the mob as more than just a local corrupt cop who looks the other way as like an active member of the mafia on a monthly salary Gotta help out your countrymen. He ran a car theft ring for Levon that LA magazine calls quote fast in the furious style, which sounds sick as fuck Then there is Felix Cisneros Jr. And this one is probably the most important guy for now.

He was a special agent with the Department of Homeland Securities Investigations Division. Now, you might be wondering, how does a guy like this get turned into a mafia mole? Pretty easy. Cisneros was brought onto the take as an errand boy because federal cops Despite the fact they make more money than the average person in the United States want more money. I mean, of course His first job was as an errand boy slash bodyguard

And then that's the thing when they're turning these guys a lot of cops work jobs off the clock that are legit and also weird, like nightclub bouncers and bodyguards, and they're allowed to carry guns. What seems to have happened for Cisneros here is that he was hired by Levon to be a bodyguard, as a legit bodyguard, but then Levon kind of showed him how much money he had and was like, you know, if you were a bodyguard for some of these not so nice jobs, you'd make even more money. And then once he takes that money, he's got them, you know? I mean, Levon saw potential in him. Yeah, I see you're a federal cop.

How would you like to be a crooked cop? Then once he gets them on the illegitimate side of things, he's got them by the balls. At that point, Cisneros can't pull out, and he's like, now you're going to act as my inside man at DHS. If anything comes up on your radar with my name, you better fucking tell me. Very smart. I mean, yeah, it happens all the time. And fuck Cisneros, this is not a branch of sympathy for him. He's a cop. But honestly, the real fucking gem

of this inner circle of scumbags is a man named Edgar Sargsyan, no relation to the former president. I assume. I assume. What did I tell you, Joe? We have three surnames now, like, yeah, these guys are true Armenians, tell me more about it. For any future crossings into Armenia I have to say no

relation as far as I can tell. Now Sykes-San is actually the most common. Yeah it's the Armenian version of Smith. He was a recent Armenian immigrant to LA and he started out as many immigrants do, penniless and looking for a better life. He got a job being... are you familiar with the term ambulance chaser? He was one of those. Not as a lawyer. A lawyer employed him to literally chase ambulances to hospitals so he could try to get people to sign up for weird lawsuits, personal injury lawsuits.

If he got someone to sign up, he'd get a cut. That was his first job. But then he was like, the lawyer's making so much more money than me. Why don't I just become a lawyer? So he went to law school. I love it. Um, and he did pass law school, but he could not pass the bar exam. He took it eight fucking times and failed. And I'm not saying that the bar exam is easy. I've never taken it I've heard it's very hard, especially in California

So did he sit down buckle in study real hard so I could pass it on that ninth time fuck No, he didn't he paid a guy a hundred and forty thousand dollars to go take it for him a fact You might recognize as a plot device from the TV show Suits, but this actually happened. Oh my god. 140,000 you could take a bar exam for somebody and get them money? Yeah. If I was there, I would be in that line of crime. Now, you might be wondering who took this bar exam. We know due to Egersword testimony. It was a guy named Enrique Mose, but his birth name is

Mosecian Again gotta help out your countrymen and in case you're also wondering how do we know this guy's name and he's still a Lawyer in good standing in the state of California No, you don't know because he is the California bar has never punished him for this but like the reason we know this because Levan, no no no not Levan what was his name? Edgar. I should point out here for the lawyer's sake, Moisesian refuses to admit that he took this test for him and he has not been charged or accused of any crimes. I mean it's easy if nobody's looking into it right? Yeah the California bar doesn't seem really caroled that much.

From here, he became Levon's personal attorney because he passed the bar exam and all. But I should point out though, Edgar was smart enough to pass the bar, but then not submit his credentials because he knew they'd be fraudulent. So he was just telling everyone he was a legit attorney when he was unlicensed. So he did learn something in a law school. He knew enough about the law to not get himself like pinched for practicing law without a license, unless he was working for the mafia, which he was. It's unclear if Levon knew if Edgar was a legit attorney or not, but he did employ him as his personal lawyer. He ran countless fraud and identity theft rings if Levon knew if Edgar was a legit attorney or not, but he did employ him as his personal lawyer.

He ran countless fraud and identity theft brings for Levon collecting so much money, he was soon let through the gates of private clubs in LA where he drank with people like future governor of California Gavin Newsom and at the time, former governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger. Here's the main difference between the two of them. Edgar knew how to fold himself in society, unlike Levon. When it came to Levon, he tried to show himself off as a simple businessman, but nobody believed him, including his fellow Armenians. He lived in a mansion, owned multiple goddamn lions, supercars, all of that shit.

Everyone in Glendale knew him as a mafia boss and not to trust him, where Edgar, using his wealth, donated it to political organizations and candidates, which is why he also ended up chilling with Gavin Newsom after he became governor. There's pictures of it. Oh my god. Levon became whatever young man in Yerevan wants to be when they're rich, while Edgar became what people who become prime minister of Armenia do with their wealth.

So Levon became the, there's this oligarch, I'm sure our audience is not necessarily familiar with him, but his name is Gagik Tsarukyan, who just recently erected a massive Jesus statue in Armenia for like, for whatever reason. Yes, he's got laser eyes. So like, these men, you know, also dressed in Versailles and all that. And he has like mansions that looks like from, they're from some, you know, you know, these like very wealthy Indian households. Like, this is what he has, like over the hill hill. He has an entire town practically. I

don't want to dwell too much from the main topic, but he also has lions. He also has big love for lions. So yes, he effectively became the Gagik Tarukyan of Glendale. My favorite Gagik moment is how I was introduced to him as a concept. He used to do something very important with the Armenian Olympic Committee. And by that I mean- do something very important with the Armenian Olympic Committee. And by that I mean he was ahead of the Armenian Olympic Committee. He was ahead and he donates a ton of money. And by donate I mean pays for it. But you go by a building in Yerevan and it has, I forget which building now, but it has pictures of all of the Armenian gold medalists. And then in the middle of all of them is a picture

of Goggi. Like he fucking did so things. Like bro why are you pretending you're on the team? It's the building of the Olympic Committee.