EX-FBI agent faces sentencing for helping Armenian mafia in LA

[scagghiuni]

EX-FBI AGENT FACES SENTENCING FOR HELPING ARMENIAN MAFIA IN LA

LOS ANGELES (CNS) – A retired FBI agent faces sentencing Monday for accepting at least $150,000 in bribes in exchange for providing confidential information to Armenian organized crime figures in Los Angeles.

Babak Broumand, 56, of Lafayette, California, was found guilty last year in Los Angeles of taking bribes and money laundering.

Broumand, an FBI special agent from January 1999 until shortly after search warrants were served on his home and businesses in 2018, was responsible for national security investigations and was assigned to the FBI Field Office in San Francisco.

According to evidence presented at his 11-day trial, from January 2015 to December 2018, Broumand accepted cash, checks, private jet flights, a Ducati motorcycle, hotel stays, escorts, meals, and other items of value from Edgar Sargsyan, an organized crime-linked Beverly Hills attorney who had paid someone else to take the bar exam in his name.

In return for bribes, Broumand conducted law enforcement database inquiries and used those inquiries to help Sargsyan and his associates avoid prosecution and law enforcement monitoring. Specifically, Broumand informed Sargsyan whether a particular person or entity was under criminal investigation.

To conceal the nature of their relationship, Broumand made it appear as though Sargsyan was working as an FBI source. Broumand wrote reports after the fact to make it falsely appear that he conducted legitimate law enforcement database inquiries.

In exchange for the illegal inquiries, Sargsyan paid Broumand at least $150,000 in bribes that including a Ducati motorcycle and accessories valued at more than $36,000. The bribes were deposited into the accounts for Love Bugs LLC, a lice-removal hair salon business that Broumand and his wife started in 2007.

In May 2016, Broumand interfered with an FBI investigation into Felix Cisneros Jr., a corrupt special agent with Homeland Security Investigations who also had ties to Armenian crime figures, court papers show.

Cisneros, of Murrieta, was convicted in Los Angeles federal court in two different cases. The first trial, in 2018, resulted from Cisneros’ efforts to help a Mexican national linked to organized crime enter the country. The second trial last year resulted from Cisneros’ efforts on behalf of Sargsyan.

The former HSI agent was sentenced in November to over 10 years in federal prison for accepting cash payments and other benefits to help an Armenian organized crime figure, including taking official action designed to help two foreign nationals gain entry into the United States.

Sargsyan, who pleaded guilty to federal charges related to more than $250,000 in bribes he paid to the federal agents for access to confidential law enforcement information, faces sentencing in Los Angeles next month.

https://www.lataco.com/ex-fbi-agent-fac ... fia-in-la/

[Tonyd621]

I I think this speaks to more of the labor pool and people wanting to apply for LE positions. Nobody wants a career in LE and got arrested or have a personal injury lawsuit against them for doing their job.
I coach little league baseball for almost 2 years now with a individual who is a city attorney for the county I live in(our sons are freinds) and he tells me they are having more problems with corruption and lack of police training because of the ppl they are know forced to now hire...

[JerryB]

I I think this speaks to more of the labor pool and people wanting to apply for LE positions. Nobody wants a career in LE and got arrested or have a personal injury lawsuit against them for doing their job.
I coach little league baseball for almost 2 years now with a individual who is a city attorney for the county I live in(our sons are freinds) and he tells me they are having more problems with corruption and lack of police training because of the ppl they are know forced to now hire...

Nationwide, local/municipal police agencies are lowering their standard for hiring and dropping both physical and educational requirements for recruits. LAPD has taken it a step further, by lowering passing qualification test thresholds for those actually in the Police Academy. To boot, the mayor of L.A. recently said she wants to "... remove obstacles for police recruits who fail to initially qualify for training as a means of further diversifying the LAPD ..." LAPD, a once great police department, is circling the drain.

[Tonyd621]

I I think this speaks to more of the labor pool and people wanting to apply for LE positions. Nobody wants a career in LE and got arrested or have a personal injury lawsuit against them for doing their job.
I coach little league baseball for almost 2 years now with a individual who is a city attorney for the county I live in(our sons are freinds) and he tells me they are having more problems with corruption and lack of police training because of the ppl they are know forced to now hire...

Nationwide, local/municipal police agencies are lowering their standard for hiring and dropping both physical and educational requirements for recruits. LAPD has taken it a step further, by lowering passing qualification test thresholds for those actually in the Police Academy. To boot, the mayor of L.A. recently said she wants to "... remove obstacles for police recruits who fail to initially qualify for training as a means of further diversifying the LAPD ..." LAPD, a once great police department, is circling the drain.

You said it 10 times better then I could of said it

[Adam]

I I think this speaks to more of the labor pool and people wanting to apply for LE positions. Nobody wants a career in LE and got arrested or have a personal injury lawsuit against them for doing their job.
I coach little league baseball for almost 2 years now with a individual who is a city attorney for the county I live in(our sons are freinds) and he tells me they are having more problems with corruption and lack of police training because of the ppl they are know forced to now hire...

Nationwide, local/municipal police agencies are lowering their standard for hiring and dropping both physical and educational requirements for recruits. LAPD has taken it a step further, by lowering passing qualification test thresholds for those actually in the Police Academy. To boot, the mayor of L.A. recently said she wants to "... remove obstacles for police recruits who fail to initially qualify for training as a means of further diversifying the LAPD ..." LAPD, a once great police department, is circling the drain.

Simply out of curiosity, when was this Golden Time of the LA police department? Not trying to start an argument. Just curious as to when you think they were great. I ask because there have been a lot of issues with the LAPD my entire life. And I'm 43 and I know there were issues before I was born. So I'm interested in your perspective.

[West Coast1]

I I think this speaks to more of the labor pool and people wanting to apply for LE positions. Nobody wants a career in LE and got arrested or have a personal injury lawsuit against them for doing their job.
I coach little league baseball for almost 2 years now with a individual who is a city attorney for the county I live in(our sons are freinds) and he tells me they are having more problems with corruption and lack of police training because of the ppl they are know forced to now hire...

Nationwide, local/municipal police agencies are lowering their standard for hiring and dropping both physical and educational requirements for recruits. LAPD has taken it a step further, by lowering passing qualification test thresholds for those actually in the Police Academy. To boot, the mayor of L.A. recently said she wants to "... remove obstacles for police recruits who fail to initially qualify for training as a means of further diversifying the LAPD ..." LAPD, a once great police department, is circling the drain.

Simply out of curiosity, when was this Golden Time of the LA police department? Not trying to start an argument. Just curious as to when you think they were great. I ask because there have been a lot of issues with the LAPD my entire life. And I'm 43 and I know there were issues before I was born. So I'm interested in your perspective.

I understand what you are saying, the way I see it ... yes there have always been issues now imagine how much worse it could become.
What are the requirements in places like Newark nj these days or Chicago is similar nation wide?

[JerryB]

Simply out of curiosity, when was this Golden Time of the LA police department? Not trying to start an argument. Just curious as to when you think they were great. I ask because there have been a lot of issues with the LAPD my entire life. And I'm 43 and I know there were issues before I was born. So I'm interested in your perspective.

1. When you had to have at least an AA college degree to be considered for recruitment. (During Vietnam, if you didn't have any military, chances were you weren't getting hired; i.e., anyone with military got a ten point bump on their qualification scores).
2. When you had to pass a real written test to qualify for the oral exam.
3. When you had to articulate (in an oral interview) why you want to become an LA cop, when you had to be able to list the things you have done to prepare for that job and and to do it in front of a three man/woman oral board comprised of two sworn supervising officers and a Civilian community member.
4. When you actually had to take a meaningful physical qualification test before being hired, including running a mile under a (legitimate) certain time, running an obstacle course that included scaling a six foot wall and perform pull-ups and sit-ups all under a legitimate amount of time.
5. When passing exam scores at the academy were minimally 70%.
6. When all academy classes ran multiple miles everyday during PT and those who couldn't keep up were fired by Personnel Division.
7. When academy cadre determined individuals were unfit due to not being able to academically perform and were fired by Personnel Division.
8. When LA cops had a Police Chief that was appointed from a pool of LAPD veterans that started their LE career in LAPD and were able to run the Department without being influenced or directed by elected officials; i.e., the Chief ran the Department with autonomy and impunity.
9. When cops could do police work; i.e., proactive stops of suspects, a "goal" (not quota, LOL) for the number of citations, field interviews and arrests you made in a certain amount of days worked and your six month ratings (reviews) were based on those numbers.

I could go on, but you'd get bored.

[UTC]

The bottom line is that anything that involves competition based on achievement and skills has to go. The goal is simply to put diversity points on the board, and that can't be done unless standards are lower. Any criterion that whites do better at is a problem.

[CornerBoy]

UTC and TonyD -- couldn't agree more w both of you

I saw a pair of cops the other day here in manhattan.

Two black women, both 5'2" w a combined weight of 400 plus pounds--easy.

How are they going to get in a shoot out or stop a deranged violent freak?