More precisely, the scandal erupted after the date when the mega-casino (which, according to the project, was to become the largest in Central Europe) never opened. However, the local authorities were warned that this whole project was a murky scam, behind which stands the Armenian criminal authority Arman Aharonyan, even at the beginning of the advertising campaign, which was also led by the failed casino.
The fact that in the suburbs of Prague (Rudna is located three kilometers from the capital of the Czech Republic), a town with a population of five thousand inhabitants, a grandiose poker tournament with a prize fund of 88 million euros will be held, residents of Rudna were told by Forbes magazine. By the way, the announcement of the event still hangs on the website of the casino that never opened:
From the Forbes publication, the residents of the town also learned another amazing news – “the largest recreation and entertainment complex All Inn Prague is supposed to be built in the area of the infamous Atol Hotel.” The advertisement promised that it would be “the largest casino in Central Europe”. The complex was to include 1,000 slot machines; 150 tables for live games (for example, baccarat, casino poker, blackjack); Wellness & Spa center on 1000 m2; saunas, massages, relaxation pool, relaxation zones; 125 superior rooms.
It’s strange, but after a huge scandal caused by the fact that neither the promised tournament, nor the casino and everything else, did not open on October 8, 2020, the casino website is still up and running:
And confirms everything that Forbes wrote.
But the main thing for us in this story is not that the casino never opened, and the tournament did not take place, but that all these events caused a grandiose “showdown” in Rudna and it suddenly became clear that a criminal authority from Armenia was behind this whole project. Arman Akharonyan, who has been living in the Czech Republic for many years and has gained quite unambiguous fame here.
The opposition in the local council set up a commission to investigate links between local mayor Lubomír Kocman and investor in the failed project, Arman Aharonjan. The result was a report shedding light on the personality of Akharonian, who suddenly turned out to be a very secretive person – despite the fact that he appeared in several criminal cases in the Czech Republic and neighboring Slovakia, even a photo of him could not be found.
So, it turned out that there is a clear connection between the recreation and entertainment complex All Inn Prague and international organized crime.
The owner of the Atol hotel building, where the All Inn Prague casino was going to be built, is the NAM Property company, whose owner, according to the trade register, is Elen Aharonjan:
The bearer of the same surname, Arman Aharonjan, has been identified as
head of the Armenian criminal world
According to ČT 24 , the Slovak police charged him with blackmail and extortion. According to the report, they tried to kill Akharonyan in 2007, but as a result of the killer’s mistake, a complete stranger was killed. During the investigation of this murder, an international arrest warrant was issued for Akharonyan.
The armcoin.co website also confirms Arman Aharonyan’s connection with the new casino. This website is operated by the Estonian company ArmCoin OÜ, whose Managing Director is Arman Aharonyan:
The site says: “In collaboration with the largest casino in Europe, All Inn Prague, we have developed the stablecoin ArmCoin, which will serve all players from all over the world as a safe form of storing their gaming capital.”
Another proof of the casino connection with Arman Aharonyan (born 1983) is the fact that he participated in the Velká Kunratická cross for the All Inn10 team:
The deputies of the Rudny Council, who compiled this report, also focus on a more weighty fact confirming the connection of Arman Akharonyan with organized crime. This is the decision of the Supreme Court 7 To 55/2013 of 10/15/2013, according to which Arman Akharonyan is considered to belong to the criminal environment:
Based on all the facts presented in the report, its authors conclude that the entire All Inn Prague casino project is connected with organized crime, “therefore it is unreliable, and therefore promises or contractual obligations cannot be expected to be fulfilled in the future.”
MPs opposed to the mayor also said that if the project were to be implemented, “the city of Rudna would face security and reputational risks caused by the infiltration of organized crime into the city.
As already mentioned, the grandiose project to build a “little Las Vegas” in the suburbs of Prague never took place. The deranged poker mega-tournament did not take place either. And the Atol hotel never turned into “the largest recreation and entertainment complex All Inn Prague”. The tournament was reportedly canceled due to the pandemic. But the renovation of the building stopped before the arrival of Covid-19.
Which, of course, made it possible for the local opposition to mock the mayor of Rudny to their heart’s content, but we are much more interested in the fact that, despite the advertising campaign that promised all these miracles to the residents of Rudny, no one, it seems, was going to build any casino.
Here is what Rudná pro život wrote about this shortly before the date of the planned opening of the casino:
And indeed – it “smelled” great. That’s just the explanation why this project was originally conceived as a soap bubble, there is still no. And Arman Akharonyan can be called anyone, but not a fool.
The fact that he is a very smart person is evidenced by two facts from his biography. The first is related to the failed assassination attempt on Akharonian in 2007. Then he was ordered to be killed by another representative of Armenian organized crime, thief in law Andranik Soghoyan, for Akharonyan’s refusal to contribute $500,000 to the thieves’ common fund. As a result, Sogoyan fled to Armenia and, according to some rumors, was killed, while Akharonyan remained in the Czech Republic and subjugated the Armenian criminal group.
The second fact is related to the first – despite repeated attempts by the Czech (and not only) police to arrest Akharonyan, he is still at large and is in the Czech Republic. At the same time, he conducts a profitable business and, among other things, masters a very promising cryptocurrency market. Apparently, successfully. But the question – why did Akharonyan have this scam in Rudna – remains unsolved. After all, he does nothing for nothing.