Armenian News - NEWS.am presents a daily digest as of 31.07.2019:

·       The Armenian National Security Service (NSS) has uncovered several cases of abuse of official power and bribe-taking by the officials at some penitentiaries in the country.

The NSS has instituted criminal cases in connection with these apparent crimes.

The respective investigations are underway.

·       Alex and Ani, the charm bracelet company founded by a multimillionaire of Armenian origin Carolyn Rafaelian, alleges in a lawsuit that Bank of America is violating federal law by engaging in gender discrimination against the women-led company, Forbes reported.

The lawsuit seeks $1.1 billion in damages and claims that Bank of America’s “gender bias and greed” poses an “existential threat” to Alex and Ani’s business.

According to the lawsuit, Bank of America falsely declared in December 2018 that Alex and Ani defaulted on its $170 million loans, which it took out to buy a factory, and then cut off its access to a $50 million revolving line of credit. Alex and Ani did default a few times, but Bank of America waived the default and amended their agreement, the source noted referring to the company.

·       Famous Armenian sculptor, USSR Distinguished Painter, People’s Artist of Russia, Ukraine and Armenia, and Lenin Prize Laureate, Frid Soghoyan, has died at the age of 83, the Armenian embassy in Russia reported.

His works are kept in private collections in Armenia, Ukraine, Russia, Uzbekistan, Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The sculptor has lived and worked in Moscow for numerous years.

·       The Special Investigation Service of Armenia has filed a charge against Judge Davit Grigoryan for making falsifications in favor of a group of people or for personal reasons.

Davit Grigoryan’s attorney Yervand Varosyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am that Davit Grigoryan doesn’t accept the charge and has declared that this is linked to the two decisions that he rendered in another case during his professional career as a judge.

·       A delegation of government officials and state senators of California, Arizona, and Colorado is on a visit to Armenia, which was organized on the initiative of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA)

According to Lieutenant Governor of California Eleni Kounalakis, the delegation’s members are delighted with the Armenian hospitality and energy of the people. They have visited the Armenian Genocide memorial, where Kounalakis planted a tree on behalf of California.

Nora Hovsepian, Chairperson of the ANCA Western Region, in her turn, noted that ANCA is working toward the adoption of the bill on the allocation of an additional $40mn US assistance to Armenia.

Nora Hovsepian also noted that ANCA intends to launch the adoption of sanctions on Azerbaijan over its threats of downing civilian aircrafts that will arrive in Stepanakert, Artsakh. The respective bill aims to help open the Stepanakert airport, while Azerbaijani authorities have repeatedly threatened to shoot down civilian planes if the Stepanakert airport were to open.

·       California authorities are also interested in the launching of direct flights between Los Angeles and Yerevan. The Lieutenant Governor of California, Eleni Kounalakis, on Wednesday said about this at a press conference in Yerevan.

Nora Hovsepian noted in her turn that the respective work was being done, and the main thing is to convince airlines that the above-said flights will be profitable for them.

Kounalakis, for her part, expressed the hope that this matter will be resolved positively, especially since the number of potential passengers of these flights is large and their number is growing every year.

·       Independent Armenian-American journalist Peter Musurlian won his third LA Area Emmy on Saturday at the Academy of Television Arts & Science’s Saban Media Center in North Hollywood, Asbarez reported.

The 52-minute documentary titled ‘Holocaust Soliloquy’ won the Emmy in the Independent Programming Category.