Eric’s scofflaw duo
Petrosyants owe feds nearly $600K in check-cash scheme
Zhan and Robert Petrosyants, a pair of twins who are close friends with Mayor Adams, still owe the U.S. government more than $580,000 in penalties stemming from their guilty pleas to criminal charges nearly a decade ago, federal prosecutors recently revealed in court.
In a previously unreported letter filed in Brooklyn Federal Court ON Dec. 5, prosecutors wrote that the Petrosyants, together with their co-defendant, Lasha Goletiani, remain jointly on the hook for $582,590 as part of a judgment they entered in 2015.
The judgment was levied against the trio after they pleaded guilty in 2014 to violating anti-money laundering laws by causing the filing of false currency transaction reports as part of a check-cashing scheme.
Court papers from the time stated that the full amount of the judgment — $667,446.08 — should have been paid to the federal government by their sentencing date.
But prosecutors from the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney’s office wrote in the December letter that to date they have only paid $84,856 between the three of them.
Robert Petrosyants, who was also sentenced to six months in prison for his guilty plea, has coughed up the smallest chunk of that — $18,000 — while $33,500 came from his twin brother, the feds said. Goletiani paid the remaining $33,356.
A spokesman for the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney’s office declined to comment Friday, as did an attorney for the Petrosyants.
The twin brothers, who are active in New York City’s hospitality industry, did not respond to questions emailed by The News, and Goletiani’s attorney declined to comment.
Despite their histories, the Petrosyants have for years maintained a close friendship with Adams after first getting to know him while he served as a state senator between 2007 and 2013.
Since becoming mayor, Adams has let it be known that he frequently dines at Osteria La Baia, a Midtown Manhattan restaurant run by the Petrosyants. The mayor even attended the opening of La Baia shortly after his November 2021 election and helped promote the upscale eatery on social media.
A source directly familiar with the matter said Adams continues to regularly socialize with the Petrosyants, especially Zhan, who goes by “Johnny.”
City Campaign Finance Board filings show Adams’ ties to the Petrosyants go beyond social functions.
Last March, Adams’ 2025 reelection campaign paid La Baia $1,000 to host a “meet and greet” fundraiser at the W. 52nd St. eatery, CFB filings show.
As first reported by the Daily News, the Petrosyants also a few years ago recommended clients to a health insurance company co-founded by Frank Carone, the mayor’s ex-chief of staff who is now the chairman of his reelection campaign.
Amid controversy over his ties to the brothers, Adams has said he sees his friendship with them as a sort of mentorship.
“All of you know how I am about giving people an opportunity. I mentor people every day,” he told reporters in February 2022 when asked about the Petrosyants. “You would be surprised at the types of people that I mentor to put them back on track.”
Adams spokesman Fabien Levy said Friday that the mayor has never spoken with the brothers about their unpaid federal debt. Levy also said: “While we won’t comment on the particulars of any one case, we’d expect anyone, friend or not of the mayor’s, to comply with their legal obligations.”
According to the feds, the check-cashing scheme the Petrosyants were involved in featured medical billing firms that would file false and inflated claims with insurance companies in order to secure ill-gotten payouts.
In December, The New York Times reported that federal investigators are looking into allegations that companies connected to the Petrosyants misrepresented loan applications for federal pandemic relief.
John Kaehny, executive director of the Reinvent Albany government watchdog group, said Adams is “squandering” public trust by not distancing himself from the Petrosyants.
“It creates a lot of questions about his judgment and his role as mayor,” Kaehny said.
“I think the mayor sincerely looks at these guys as friends and want to help them out, but when he became mayor, he stopped being Eric Adams the guy and became Eric Adams the mayor.
“Things he could do as Eric Adams the guy, you cannot do anymore, because it reflects on his office.
“It makes people wonder why he hangs out with these people.”