Glendale Man Sentenced for Credit Card Fraud

A Glendale man on Tuesday was sentenced to 84 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to running a series of credit card scams which defrauded over 20 banks out of nearly $5 million. Mikayel Hmayakyan, 43, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge George H. Wu, who also ordered him to pay more than $4.9 million in restitution.  Hmayakyan, who pleaded guilty June 29 to two counts of bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft, and his conspirators were charged with operating a series of identity theft-based, credit card-maxing “bust out” scams, using fraudulently obtained credit cards to buy millions of dollars in liquor, Rolex watches and Forest Lawn cemetery plots, all of which were later sold for profit. They allegedly ran these scams from 2010 through 2017. The liquor was purchased on behalf of the now-closed Liquor Spot in Glendale, where co-defendant Vahan Aloyan, 45, of Glendale, was a manager.  Aloyan, the case’s sole remaining defendant, is schedule to go to trial March 15. The Secret Service, Homeland Security Investigations and the Glendale Police Department investigated this matter. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Poonam G. Kumar of the Major Frauds Section and Victor A. Rodgers of the Asset Forfeiture Section prosecuted.