The statement voiced by the Armenian National Congress (ANC) saying that the Armenian authorities have close ties with criminal boss Armen Kazarian are untrue, Secretary of the Republican parliamentary group Eduard Sharmazanov told NEWS.am.

According to him, it is ANC’s regular attempt to spread misinformation at its rallies. Misinformation is immediately spread by the media controlled by the opposition as well, he added. “In fact Pzo was prospering in Armenia in 1990s when the Armenian National Movement (ANM) headed by Levon Ter-Petrosyan was ruling the country. Pzo left the country and moved to U.S. after ANM’s positions were weakened,” he said.

As NEWS.am reported earlier, Armenian criminals and their associates used phantom health care clinics and other means to try to cheat Medicare out of $163 million, the largest fraud by one criminal enterprise in the program’s history. The operation was under the protection of an Armenian crime boss Armen Kazarian, nicknamed Pzo. He was also among the first arrestees in Los Angeles.