Former Fresno resident charged with illegally brokering the sale of military arms to a foreign government, money laundering

FRESNO, Calif. — Ara Dolarian, 58, was arrested on Wednesday, May 15, in Fresno on a criminal complaint charging him with illegally brokering the sale of military-grade arms and munitions, money laundering, and conspiracy, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

According to court documents, Dolarian was the owner and president of Dolarian Capital Inc. (DCI), an arms brokering company operating in Fresno; Washington, DC; and Sophia, Bulgaria. Dolarian is a United States citizen residing in Sophia, Bulgaria. Beginning in 2013 and continuing through 2014, the U.S. Department of State denied DCI licenses to broker international arms deals. During this time period, in which DCI was not authorized to broker international arms deals, Dolarian allegedly attempted to broker a multi-million dollar transfer of high‑explosive bombs, rockets, military-grade firearms, and aircraft-mounted cannons from Eastern Europe and South Africa to the government of Nigeria.

“Illegal arms brokering represents a threat, not only to U.S. national security, but to the security of the international community,” Spradlin said.

In furtherance of this arms deal, it is alleged that in June 2014, Dolarian executed sales contracts with Societe D’Equipments Internationaux (SEI), a French arms brokering company acting on behalf of Nigeria, for the purchase and transfer of high‑explosive bombs, rockets, military-grade firearms, and aircraft-mounted cannons worth more than $8.5 million. Dolarian submitted a brokering application with the U.S. State Department in June 2014 for the proposed deal with Nigeria. This brokering application, along with a later one, was never approved by the State Department.

Without approval from the State Department, Dolarian allegedly accepted approximately $8.3 million from Nigeria and its broker, SEI. These funds were, in part, funneled by Nigeria through a purported furniture company in Hong Kong. Then they were routed through numerous shell accounts held by Dolarian, and others. Soon after obtaining the funds, Dolarian used them to pay off personal expenses, such as federal and state tax debts, and to buy a BMW SUV. In February 2015, the federal government seized over $6 million that remained in Dolarian’s accounts. Civil forfeiture proceedings related to that seizure are currently pending (Case No. 1:15-cv-954-DAD).

This case is the product of an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations. This matter is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Grant B. Rabenn and Jeffrey Spivak, and Department of Justice Trial Attorney Christian Ford of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Expert Control Section.

Dolarian made his initial appearance on the charges, Thursday, May 16, and was scheduled for a detention hearing, Monday, May 20.

If convicted of unlicensed arms brokering, Dolarian faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine; a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for conspiracy, and a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000 or up to twice the value of the property involved in the transactions, whichever is greater for money laundering. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.