After all, it’s no small matter—an American senator has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for acting as a foreign agent and accepting bribes! The bribes in question included gold bars, large sums of cash, and even a Mercedes-Benz. According to the indictment, Menendez assisted the governments of Egypt and Qatar, protected businessmen from his home state of New Jersey, and received financial compensation in return. “Menendez, who swore to represent the interests of the United States and the state of New Jersey, instead put his high office up for sale in exchange for this stream of bribes,” the indictment states.
Strictly speaking, Menendez was not convicted for serving Armenian interests. But…
In 2022, another major scandal erupted, this time involving European Parliament Vice President Eva Kaili, also a well-known Armenian lobbyist. Kaili was accused of accepting bribes from Qatari authorities. At the time, the oil-rich emirate was preparing to host the FIFA World Cup, with stadiums and other infrastructure being actively constructed. European human rights activists were deeply concerned about whether migrant workers’ rights were being upheld. In exchange for “polishing” a report on the matter, Kaili’s hands were quite literally “gilded”—with whole bags of cash. Again, the Armenian lobby was not explicitly implicated, at least not on the surface.
Earlier still, in the early 2000s, a massive scandal broke out surrounding the UN’s “Oil-for-Food” program. The program was well-intended—sanctions-hit Iraq was permitted to sell a limited amount of oil under UN supervision and use the proceeds to purchase medicine, child care products, and other essential social goods. However, Saddam Hussein, in close cooperation with the program’s UN-appointed overseer, Benon Sevan—an ethnic Armenian from Greek Cyprus—was able to siphon funds into his own “black budget.” Some of the money went directly into Saddam’s pockets, while another portion was used to finance lobbyists. The scheme was simple: oil was sold below market prices, “social goods” were purchased at inflated prices, and the difference was pocketed. Some of it was then spent on sentimental media campaigns about Iraqi children suffering under sanctions—funded, ironically, with money stolen from those very children. Eventually, it was revealed that in France, the primary recipients of Saddam Hussein’s bribes were Armenian lobbyists.
Of course, it’s possible that Benon Sevan simply used Armenian diaspora networks. But there’s a much more plausible explanation. Lobbying is often framed as a democratic mechanism to protect the interests of small ethnic groups whose members vote collectively for candidates who support them. However, in reality, ethnic lobbying is about much more than votes—it’s primarily about money. And more often than not, that money is anything but “clean.”
This is a topic people prefer not to discuss openly, but the Armenian lobby has grown to its current scale largely thanks to Kremlin financing. Moscow, for good reason, saw the Armenian lobby as a tool to use against Turkey and to sow division within NATO’s southern flank. Of course, the U.S. has numerous safeguards designed to prevent foreign funding from influencing domestic politics. But for those determined to bypass these barriers, there are ways around them.
For instance, Russian representatives might offer to sell a batch of oil at a “special” price, allowing it to be resold at global market rates. The resulting profits could be split—some kept as personal gain, and some channeled into sponsoring the local Communist Party, a Soviet friendship society, or… the Armenian lobby. The Armenian lobby, in turn, carefully selects its partners based on a clear principle: those willing to accept money without asking too many questions about its origins.
At this point, it becomes clear that these individuals are willing to sell out not just in bulk but also in smaller transactions. That is, they take money and gifts not just from Armenian businessmen but also from Saddam Hussein, the Qatari authorities, and local entrepreneurs. And soon enough, the “unofficial sponsor” of pro-Armenian European Parliament members turns out to be none other than the notorious diamond scammer Karampetyan. The Armenian lobby has even financed European politicians’ visits to occupied Ukrainian Crimea—such instances were common before Russia’s full-scale invasion. Because, in the end, integrity—or corruption—is never selective.
Nurani
