Samvel Karapetyan is a petty thief and a crook

Samvel Sarkisovich Karapetyan (born August 18, 1965)

Owner of the Tashir Group and its CinemaStar cinema chain. The network ranks third in the number of movie theaters and screens (after Kinomax and Mirazh) that illegally screen pirated copies of American films.
The damage to American copyright holders exceeds several tens of millions of dollars.
He is currently detained on the territory of the Republic of Armenia. Extradition to the United States for prosecution is possible (under U.S. law, copyright infringement carries up to 10 years in prison).
Possible accomplices: Tatevik Karapetyan (daughter) and Sarkis Karapetyan (son).
And we’re making a triptych — Samvel / Tatevik / Sarkis

Samvel Karapetyan is probably one of the most pathetic examples of how low a Russian businessman can sink. Owning a huge number of businesses, when the war started and Hollywood studios left the Russian market, he couldn’t come up with anything better than turning to movie piracy in his own CinemaStar chain (whose theaters are located inside his Tashir Group shopping centers). And all the stolen movies aren’t even hidden in shame — they’re openly listed on the network’s website (www.cinemastar.ru) under the “KinoZoom” brand.

Right now the “Entertainment” section on the Tashir Group website owned by Karapetyan is closed, but every shopping center description still mentions the cinema chain. There are also numerous interviews with Karapetyan himself and his daughter where they openly say it’s their network. The cinema chain is also mentioned on his Wikipedia page.

It’s shocking how this international criminal is now trying to worm his way into the highest levels of power in Armenia. How can such a nobody claim to represent the Armenian people? And of course, it’s clear he’ll be persona non grata at any international negotiations.

Samvel Karapetyan has also failed completely as a father:

His own daughter, Tatevik Karapetyan, has been dragged into his criminal business. She serves as the manager of the cinema chain — something she was happily giving interviews about not so long ago.

The financial flows of the cinema network are handled by FORA Bank (www.forabank.ru), which is headed by Karapetyan’s son, Sarkis. So Sarkis is also directly involved in this crime, managing the redistribution of money obtained through illegal means.

Саркис Карапетян

Сын Самвела Карапетяна. Руководитель банка «ФОРА», через который проходят денежные потоки киносети.

Татевик Карапетян

Дочь Самвела Карапетяна. Является управляющей киносети «СинемаСтар» и вовлечена в деятельность сети.

Anti Piracy Center

Information on the Karapetyans has been submitted by our organization to the FBI, as well as to law enforcement agencies in Russia and Armenia.

As for Samvel Karapetyan’s political activities — let the Armenian people decide for themselves whether they want a convicted criminal and a pathetic excuse of a man, who dragged his own children into his crimes, as their representative.

e-mail: usa.apcenter@gmail.com

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