3 years after Apple released its first iPhone in 2007, B.C. fraudsters Raffi Khorchidian and Garo Aram Deyrmenjian schemed to bilk investors out of millions on the “next Apple.”
Garo Aram Deyrmenjian, Raffi Khorchidian, Antoine Ratsaphong, and EuroHelvetia TrustCo. S.A. orchestrated a pump and dump scheme involving Kunekt between December 2010 and April 2011. They obtained 13.8 million shares of Kunekt Corporation (KNKT.o) through private transactions, promoted the shares through mass email blasts, and then sold their shares as the price increased, netting almost $20m.
The BCSC permanently barred Khorchidian and Deyrmenjian after they were found to have orchestrated the market manipulation of Kunekt, a company that had $360k in assets and no proprietary technology of smartphones.
“The campaign enabled the company to reach a market capitalization of almost $180 million,” noted a BCSC press release. The two cons stole USD $18.1m from trades in worthless Kunekt shares on the U.S. OTC during the 2011 scheme. On June 27, 2024 the British Columbia Court of Appeal dismissed their appeals.
“The Kunekt market manipulation involved a complex, opaque scheme employing multiple offshore accounts and trusts and a tout sheet promotional campaign,” noted regulators.
The B.C. Securities Commission has filed a court case against Garo Deyrmenjian claiming that Deyrmenjian fraudulently conveyed several assets to avoid paying the BCSC. The assets listed by the BCSC include two properties in Vancouver along with a Maserati Gran Turismo. Deyrmenjian transferred the assets to family members and has failed to pay $7.8m in sanctions.
The allegations from the BCSC come as a footnote to its case against Mr. Deyrmenjian and others for the manipulation of Kunekt, a stock that went to $2.89 amidst misleading claims about a smartphone business. According to the BCSC, the group touted Kunekt as “the next Apple” while unloading shares. Deyrmenjian was ordered to disgorge $7.14m, plus a $700k fine. Mr. Deyrmenjian unsuccessfully appealed the sanctions, losing in 2024. Zero has been paid.
The latest revolves around the BCSC’s efforts to collect the money. In a notice of claim filed at the Vancouver courthouse on March 10, the BCSC sets out how Mr. Deyrmenjian had interests in two properties in Vancouver. The properties were located on West 38th Avenue and East 35th Avenue.
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