New Criminal Charges Filed Against Kirk Vartanian | ABC30 Fresno

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By ABC30

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Fresno, CA The Fresno County District Attorney's Office has issued an arrest warrant for Vartanian. He's facing more than a dozen new charges of grand theft. The district attorneys office filed the charges late Tuesday afternoon.

Action News obtained the criminal complaint, and we are learning a lot of new details. In the document, more than a dozen people are named as victims. One of them is a well known former coach.

Kirk Vartanian is now facing a maximum of 20 years in prison. The new grand theft charges stem from Vartanian's former luxury auto dealership. He is accused of stealing from 17 people and a credit company. One of the victims is Former Fresno State Basketball Coach /*Stacy Johnson-Klein*/. Sources previously told Action News Johnson-Klein arranged to buy a Bentley from Vartanian. The coach paid for the car but never got the high end vehicle. Another victim is /*Thomas Moscatelli*/ who is an ABC 30 employee. Moscatelli has been fighting nearly two years since said Vartanian defrauded him out of a car warranty. Moscatelli said, "Like every other victim, I would like to get it over with and resolved however it turns out. I'm glad something now is finally being done."

Vartanian tried to redevelop Granite Park. This summer, he briefly opened Club Edge at the troubled development. Vartanian still hoped to reopen the site, but the new grand theft charges could derail the process.

At this point, /*Kirk Vartanian*/ has an active arrest warrant. Fresno law enforcement are now waiting for the man to turn himself in. His defense attorney said he is trying to come up with a plan to deal with the new charges. The business man also faces domestic violence charges relating to a separate incident from this summer.