CALIFORNIA ARMENIAN BUSINESSMAN FOUND DEAD IN ARMENIA
nia-armenian-businessman-found-dead-in-armenia/
Ma y 18th, 2009
A U.S. businessman of Armenian descent has been found dead in Armenia
three weeks after disappearing in unclear circumstances.
Nazareth Berberian, 57, reportedly went missing after leaving his
apartment in downtown Yerevan late on April 25. His car was found
abandoned in the parking lot of the Zvartnots international airport,
10 kilometers south of the capital, several days later. Earlier this
month, Berberian’s California-based wife and children promised a
$250,000 reward for information about his whereabouts.
The Armenian police said at the weekend that they have found the
businessman’s body bearing "traces of violence" in a ravine near a
section of a highway 25 kilometers north of Yerevan.
In a written statement, the police indicated that they have already
identified suspects in Berberian’s kidnapping and subsequent
murder. "In the interests of the investigation, circumstances of
the case and names of the perpetrators of the crime will not be
disclosed [for now,]" the statement said. A source familiar with the
investigation told RFE/RL that the police have already made at least
one arrest.
A native of Armenia, Berberian moved back to the country in 1999 and
engaged in a range of business activities there. His assets included
a carpet factory in a village in the southern Ararat region. His
Linareh company was also building a hotel in a prime location in
central Yerevan.
"Friends and family have affirmed that Mr. Berberian has no known
enemies and that he has been conducting business in Armenia since
1999 without any problem," the Shahan Natalie Family Foundation, an
Armenian-American charity, said in a statement released on behalf of
them on May 7.