1000 DESCENDENTS OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ERA INSURANCE POLICY HOLDERS TO RECEIVE COMPENSATIONS
ARKA
Feb 9, 2010
YEREVAN, February 9, /ARKA/. Armenian ministry of justice said today
about 1000 descendents of Armenian Genocide era insurance policy
holders will receive the assets denied to them for far too long by
French AXA insurance company .
The historic case is the second of its kind, following the New York
Life Insurance class action case settled in February, 2004. In both
cases, the heirs of genocide-era claim holders were represented by
Yeghiayan and Associates, Geragos and Geragos, and Kabateck Brown
Kellner.
In 2007, AXA agreed to pay a lump sum of 17.5 million USD, 11
million of which were to be split among the descendants, 3 million
to humanitarian organizations (the Armenian General Benevolent Union,
the Blue Cross and the French-Armenian Fund), while the rest went to
the lawyers.
Barsegh Gartalian, the executive director of the regulatory commission
of AXA, told Armenian ministry of justice that Christina Sneider, judge
of California’s Central District Court, has approved applications for
only 996 descendants. He said the decision is final and not subject
to appeal. The commission had received 13,790 applications (nearly
3,840 were sent by the Armenian Ministry of Justice that handled
applications form citizens of Armenia) of which 12,794 were denied due
to lack of corresponding documents. According to Barsegh Gartalian,
the decisions were ready in July-August 2009, but the court reached the
verdict only in late January 2010 due to technical difficulties.