The Assyrian Democratic Organization
By Rick Guinness
NEW BRITAIN – bristolpress — The former treasurer of the Assyrian National Association at 39 South St. has confessed to embezzling funds from the club for more than a year and a half, according to police who arrested him Thursday. Edwin Hormoz, 37, of 50 Dogwood Lane, Bristol, was charged with first-degree larceny and 19 counts of forgery in connection with a spree of forged checks that took place between January 2006 and June, police said. His bond was set at $30,000.
Hormoz, who lost re-election to his post in mid-June, became the target of a police investigation July 2, when the Assyrian National Association’s new president, Agnes Pireh, found discrepancies in the club’s finances and contacted police, Sgt. Gregory Wright said Friday. One outstanding bill that raised a red flag was a $6,800 water bill that hadn’t been paid, along with a total of some $23,598 in taxes and other bills.
“The president confronted him about this,” Wright said. “He said they’d been paid. And they asked for the checkbook. But he could not produce documentation that the bills had been paid. “It turned out he took the money for himself,” Wright said. “At the end, he finally admitted that he had taken $37,727.35. He told detectives that he had financial problems.”
Hormoz signed his own name and forged the name of past president Ashor Shamonei on 20 checks totaling $28,920 that required two signatures, according to the affidavit supporting the Aug. 14 arrest warrant. Pireh told police that Hormoz called her on July 1, apologized to her and asked her for a chance to repay the club, according to court records.
Hormoz went voluntarily to police headquarters July 5 for an interview with detectives, saying he admitted making checks out to himself and would resolve the matter by the next day, the arrest warrant stated. While police were investigating, the Assyrian National Association’s new treasurer, Santak Moochi, continued to go over finances and found 13 other discrepancies during the time Hormoz was treasurer, police said.
The additional 13 checks totaled $8,807.35, according to the affidavit, “which made the grand total Edwin Hormoz embezzled from the Assyrian National club to be $37,727.35.”
Court records also said:
ntOne check was written to Plainville Oil, “which the Assyrian club is not a customer of.”
ntHormoz said he would make an attempt to sell his house so he could pay back the association.”
nt”Hormoz admitted he had no right to write out checks to cash or to himself.”
ntHe committed the crimes because of “financial problems at home.”
Assyria was part of Mesopotamia, which now spans four countries – Syria, Turkey, Iran and Iraq. The Golden Age of Assyria began in 2400 BC. Now the Assyrians are in a diaspora. Hormoz could not be reached for comment at the phone number listed in police records. The phone had either been disconnected or taken out of service, a recording stated. His next court date is Sept. 14.
