Man Receives Prison Sentence for Theft from Youth Nonprofit
October 16, 2008 — A Burlington man has been sentenced to serve time in state prison for stealing money from a Watertown nonprofit organization where he volunteered, the Massachusetts Attorney General announced.
On Oct. 10, Middlesex Superior Court Judge Hiller Zobel sentenced Raffi Donoyan, 49, to two years in state prison on one count of larceny over $250. On another count of larceny over $250, Zobel sentenced Donoyan to two years in the House of Correction, with the sentence suspended for a period of five years, to be served upon completion of his state prison sentence. Donoyan was also ordered to undergo mandatory drug and alcohol testing, and must receive gambling counseling. Donoyan will begin serving his sentence on Oct. 24.
From early 2003 to August 2005, Donoyan was athletic director and a board member of Homenetmen Eastern Region, an international charitable organization dedicated to fostering scouting and athletic activities among Armenian youth. The Homenetmen Eastern Region oversees 10 chapters in the eastern part of the United States.
The matter was originally referred to law enforcement authorities by Homenetmen. An investigation found that from November 2003 through August 2005, Donoyan stole more than $120,000 from the organization by making cash withdrawals from the organization’s account and by writing checks payable to himself, according to the Attorney General’s office.
In early 2005, the treasurer and president confronted Donoyan regarding irregularities in the organization’s bank account, and Donoyan claimed that the IRS had taken money out of the account, the Attorney General said.
In February of that year, Donoyan deposited $20,000 into the organization’s bank account but then resumed taking money from the account in May 2005 and continued until August 2005. Some of the funds stolen included deposits paid by young athletes and the chapters they belonged to so that they could attend Homenetmen’s World Athletic Games, held in Athens, Greece in July 2005, the Attorney General said.
A Middlesex Grand Jury returned indictments against Donoyan last November. He was arraigned in Middlesex Superior Court the following month, where he entered a plea of not guilty and was released on personal recognizance. This past August, Donoyan entered a change of plea from not guilty to guilty.