Exposing the falsification of gold resource data by Van Z. Krikorian and his Global Gold Corp. (PINK: GBGD), at the Toukhmanuk Gold Project in the Republic of Armenia.
I find it inconceivable that Van Krikorian is attempting to defraud yet another group of investors in Armenia, with the Toukhmanuk Gold Mine. He defrauded Consolidated Resources Armenia (CRA) in 2011 for USD$7M, then defrauded Linne Mining in the Republic of Georgia for USD$5.8M, and now a new group, Optima Management Co., is poised to invest in Toukhmanuk — believing whatever lies Van Krikorian is dishing out.
Van Z. Krikorian's Global Gold Corp, symbol GBGD on the OTC, continues to perpetuate its fraud that it has confirmed 2 million ounces of gold at its flagship Toukhmanuk Gold Project.
The resource data compiled by Van Z. Krikorian's GBGD through their Armenian division, Mego-Gold LLC, and submitted to the Agency of Mineral Reserves of the Republic of Armenia Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (Armenia GKZ), was corrupted (i.e., falsified) by Management — Mr. Van Z. Krikorian, President, CEO, Director and Legal Counsel, and his manager in Armenia, Mr. Ashot Boghossian.
Mr. Van Z. Krikorian and GBGD used these falsified filings with Armenian regulators, which were also posted in news releases and in Van Z. Krikorian's GBGD's SEC filings, to eventually defraud 2 investment groups:
Consolidated Resources Armenia (CRA) entered a JV Agreement in 2011 (SEC 8-K, March 17, 2011) to develop the Toukhmanuk Gold Mine. CRA advanced USD$7MM to the JV. These funds were misused and partly laundered by Van Z. Krikorian's GBGD Management through questionable transactions in Armenia.
In 2013, while fighting CRA in court, Van Z. Krikorian signs a new JV deal with Linne Mining (SEC 8-K, July 5, 2013), securing USD$8 million in loans. That failed when Linne Mining discovered the gold assays were manipulated/falsified.
Don't be fooled by the $2.75 share price. Van Z. Krikorian's GBGD rolled back its shares 251 times, reducing shares outstanding from 92 million to 368 thousand. The company transferred all its assets to officers and directors, leaving behind ~$20 million in debt.
On December 4, 2017, Van Z. Krikorian's GBGD transferred all assets to officers and directors, consolidated shares 251:1, ceased reporting, and went dark — leaving US$20,917,023 in liabilities, broken promises, and a trail of fraud.
Van Krikorian issues a press release claiming a 2 million gold ounce deposit at Toukhmanuk — worth over USD$2 billion. Based on falsified resource data.
Global Gold acquired the Toukhmanuk property in two stages in northern Armenia. The entire license area covers 53.76 sq km.
Independent technical report claimed 39.23 Mt at 2.1 g/t Au — but the qualified person repeated the falsified data. Behre Dolbear carried out no independent exploration work.
Consolidated Resources Armenia enters JV agreement, eventually investing USD$7MM to develop Toukhmanuk.
CSA Global shows no correlation between Van Z. Krikorian's GBGD's published results and actual assay data. Only 6 of 1,013 pulp assays had gold values of 1 g/t or greater. Van Krikorian hides this report.
While fighting CRA in court, Van Krikorian signs a new deal with Linne Mining, securing USD$8 million.
CRA files lawsuit at the Royal Court of Jersey. Van Z. Krikorian's GBGD fails to file required 8-K disclosure.
Linne discovers gold assays are falsified and abandons the project. Reports show gold grades switched with silver grades.
Van Z. Krikorian's GBGD's subsidiary faces forced bankruptcy. Multiple tailings dam breaches exposed — never disclosed in SEC filings.
Transfers all assets to officers and directors, consolidates shares 251:1, ceases reporting — leaving $20.9M in liabilities.
At the PDAC mining convention in Toronto, Armenian Government representatives confirm the project is bankrupt.
Van Krikorian's handpicked CEO, Ashot Boghossian, is terminated from Aragats Perlite OJSC after severe mismanagement — unauthorized payments of $118K+ to himself, $120K in defective equipment, $110K in unauthorized bank borrowing, and $73K completely unaccounted for.
AAA/ICDR arbitration awards $415,914 against Ashot Boghossian for breach of contract at Aragats Perlite. Ordered to pay $354,602 in damages plus $61,312 in costs. Krikorian served as his own counsel — the same Krikorian who recommended Boghossian for the role.
Armenian regulators discover Aragats Perlite mined outside its designated territory for years. A $73,000 settlement is negotiated but Krikorian stonewalls. The regulator assesses a penalty of $579,000.
Krikorian demands Saro and Nareg Hartounian transfer their 2/3 interest in Hyegate LLC to him — with no upfront payment — under 24–48 hour deadlines. When refused, he threatens to invite Armenian government investigators, trigger bankruptcy, and destroy the enterprise. Demands his salary raised from $144K to $200K.
After the takeover attempt fails, Krikorian leaks confidential financial data to Aragats Perlite's primary customer (APR/Blagov), makes false accusations of “criminality” against his own partners, files complaints with Armenian government authorities against his own company, and conspires with APR to enforce a contract with Nareg Hartounian's forged signature.
Saro Hartounian, Nareg Hartounian, and Hyegate LLC file a Verified Complaint against Van Z. Krikorian in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Bergen County (Docket: BER-C-000287-25). The complaint sets forth 7 counts: breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, defamation, business defamation, fraud/conspiracy to commit fraud, declaratory judgment, and dissociation. Seeks emergency injunctive relief, compensatory and punitive damages, and Krikorian's complete removal from Hyegate.
The documented pattern repeats: attract partners → accept investment → attempt takeover → destroy from within when refused. Krikorian contributed $0 to Hyegate while the Hartounians funded $3.3 million.
Optima Management Co. is poised to invest in Toukhmanuk — believing whatever lies Van Krikorian is dishing out. The same fraudulent gold resource claims. The same playbook. Do not believe the half-truths of Van Krikorian. There are not 2 million ounces — there are none worth mining.
The 43-101 report was never properly vetted. The Qualified Person repeated falsified data. Van Z. Krikorian's GBGD falsified its data to confirm 2 million ounces of gold through the Armenian GKZ.
On page 6 of the Behre Dolbear report: "Behre Dolbear has not carried out any independent exploration work, drilled any holes, carried out sampling or analyses on any of the prospects and assumes no liability for the accuracy of the information provided by the client."
Van Z. Krikorian's GBGD overstated mining volumes by 104% in official SEC filings
Out of 1,013 pulp samples re-assayed, almost none matched Van Z. Krikorian's GBGD's published gold grades
Three reports by Sergo Cusiani of Geo-Logaritmica (geo-logaritmica.com) outline falsified grades.
In 2012, Van Z. Krikorian's GBGD and the CRA JV hired CSA Global to confirm the gold assays. The final report was never published because Van Z. Krikorian's GBGD failed to pay for it — to hide the evidence of fraud.
📄 Download CSA Global Correlation Report (April 2012) →
Hi Joe,
We have completed a preliminary assessment. The correlation is poor — 6 out of 1,013 pulp assays have gold values of 1 g/t or greater, the balance all below 1 g/t.
Sorry to be giving you such bad news, but we thought it important you get an indication as soon as possible.
Dave Muir, CSA Global Pty Ltd
Van Krikorian cannot claim ignorance. His response, sent one hour later:
A little while ago I received the email from Joe Borkowski: "You asked for a CSA update. Well here's your update Van."
The fact that CSA produced what appears to be a negative report today only increases the importance of transparency.
Van Krikorian hid this from Linne Mining, who were later defrauded in 2015. The same falsified assets were used in two different JV deals.
The gold grades have been manipulated/fake/fraudulent.
Core samples and pulps did not correlate with Van Z. Krikorian's GBGD published results.
VZK's email from April 20, 2012 proves he knew.
A material fact — never disclosed in SEC filings.
Not disclosed because it would confirm the fraud.
When will the SEC shut down this serial fraudster?
At the PDAC in Toronto, Armenian Government representatives confirmed that the Toukhmanuk project is bankrupt. Van Z. Krikorian's GBGD is now defunct, no longer providing financial data. Van Z. Krikorian's GBGD transferred all assets to officers and directors, leaving behind ~$20 million in debt.
When will this company be shut down and management prosecuted for fraud?
The following documents are referenced throughout this report. Click to view or download.
Independent Technical Report on Toukhmanuk Mine Project & Getik Prospect, Armenia (Oct 17, 2011)
Note from Bill Mavridis: The geologist failed to independently verify the data by taking check samples. He just took the fraudulent data that Van Krikorian provided — Garbage In, Garbage Out.
View PDF →SEC Annual Report filed by Global Gold Corp. for fiscal year ending Dec 31, 2013
View PDF →SEC Quarterly Report — includes Linne Mining debt facility details
View PDF →Formation Agreement with Consolidated Resources Armenia — March 17, 2011
View Filing →Financing and mine contractor agreement with Linne Mining — July 5, 2013
View Filing →Prepared for Linne Mining — the smoking gun evidence that Van Z. Krikorian's GBGD's resource data was fabricated. geo-logaritmica.com
Analysis showing gold grades were switched with silver grades in Van Z. Krikorian's GBGD's approved block model, making resource estimates worthless.
View PDF →Comparison of two conflicting data sets from Toukhmanuk and their impact on reserve calculations.
View PDF →Independent reserve analysis of the Toukhmanuk gold deposit by Geo-Logaritmica.
View PDF →Detailed investigation into who fabricated the geological model of the Toukhmanuk deposit.
View Page →Analysis of whether the mine has gold worth mining
Learn more about Van Krikorian's fraud and corruption in Armenia. Visit van-z-krikorian-exposed.comFraud and corruption at the Marjan Mine in Armenia
Learn more about Van Krikorian's fraud and corruption in Armenia. Visit van-z-krikorian-exposed.comOngoing coverage of Van Z. Krikorian's GBGD activities
Learn more about Van Krikorian's fraud and corruption in Armenia. Visit van-z-krikorian-exposed.comCoverage of the CRA lawsuit against Van Z. Krikorian's GBGD
Learn more about Van Krikorian's fraud and corruption in Armenia. Visit van-z-krikorian-exposed.comVan Z. Krikorian's Global Gold Corp (GBGD): Extortion and Fraud
Learn more about Van Krikorian's fraud and corruption in Armenia. Visit van-z-krikorian-exposed.comView Global Gold Corp. stock quote
Learn more about Van Krikorian's fraud and corruption in Armenia. Visit van-z-krikorian-exposed.comBetween 2009 and 2012 I was an active investor in mineral exploration in the Republic of Armenia. Our main project was the MARJAN polymetallic gold and silver project near Sissian.
My JV partner, Mr. Van Z. Krikorian, President of Global Gold Corp, used corrupt means including his influence with the US Embassy in Yerevan to secure an indictment against me and corrupt the Armenia judicial system.
This website and my blogs bring transparency to the activities of Global Gold Corp. and Mr. Van Z. Krikorian in Armenia.