A former Fresno resident of Armenian descent who went from being an artist to an international arms dealer is facing federal charges of illegally brokering the sale of military-grade arms and munitions, as well as money laundering and conspiracy.
Ara Dolarian, 58, was arrested in Fresno last Wednesday on a criminal complaint from Homeland Security Investigations, The Business Journal reports, citing a press release from the Department of Justice for the Eastern District of California.
Dolarian’s company, Dolarian Capital, Inc., is an arms broker operating in Fresno, Washington D.C. and Sofia, Bulgaria, of which Dolarian is a resident.
In 2013 and through 2014, Dolarian was denied licenses to broker international arms deals by the U.S. Department of State, according to court documents. Despite not being authorized to sell weapons, the DOJ alleges Dolarian attempted to broker a multi-million dollar transfer of high-explosive bombs, rockets, military-grade firearms and aircraft-mounted cannons from Eastern Europe and South Africa to the government of Nigeria.
Dolarian is accused of executing sales contracts in 2014 with the Society D’Equipments Internationaux (SEI), a French arms brokering company acting on behalf of the Nigerian government, for an $8.5 million deal to purchase munitions and explosives. Dolarian allegedly accepted approximately $8.3 million from Nigeria and its broker, SEI.
An application for this deal before the U.S. State Department in June 2014 was also never approved, according to the release.
Shortly after receiving the funds, Dolarian used them to pay off personal expenses, ...