Oregon Man Jailed for $2.5 Million Credit Card Fraud Scheme Funding Lavish Lifestyle and Illegal Grows

On Tuesday, a former owner of the Corvallis Cannabis Club, 45-year-old Yegishe Nazaryan, was sentenced Tuesday to two years and nine months in federal prison for bank fraud of over $2.5 million that he put into his state-licensed marijuana retail store and two illegal grow-fields.

Corvallis Cannabis Club Owner Sentencing Handed Down In $2.5M Credit Card Fraud Case

Nazaryan’s wife and co-defendant, Mariam Gevorkova, 39, is serving a five-year sentence for the same crime after being sentenced for conspiracy to commit bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy to distribute marijuana in 2023.

The pair and others opened over 100 credit cards as part of the conspiracy, resulting in losses to banks over $2.5 million.

The group obtained over 100 credit cards using fake names to run up high balances with no intention of paying them back—known as a credit card “bust-up” scheme.

The credit card accounts were applied for online using an IP address later traced back to the Corvallis Cannabis Club. As a result, banks lost over $2.5 million, which was spent on expensive jewelry, clothing, gambling, vacations, operating expenses for the Corvallis Cannabis Club, and the operations of two large illegal marijuana grow fields.

For example, thousands of dollars in charges for Amazon purchases that were shipped to Nazaryan—including a $9,000 Hublot watch and airfare—were run up on a credit card issued in the name of a Ukrainian woman who wasn’t in the United States. Nazaryan also used the money to pay rent.

Nazaryan pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

U.S. District Judge Michael J. McShane struggled to understand Nazaryan’s motivation at sentencing.

Nazaryan was educated as a veterinarian in his home country of Armenia before immigrating to the U.S. and didn’t suffer from drug addiction, mental health problems, or a chaotic childhood.

In mitigation, Nazaryan’s attorney argued that his client works part-time as a limousine driver and cares for his young son. McShane said simple greed drove the crime and said, “You don’t have a lot of excuses.”