ARMENIAN GROUPS SPLIT CASH INSURANCE SETTLEMENT HELPS CHARITABLE CULTURE PROGRAMS.

Byline: Naush Boghossian Staff Writer

GLENDALE - Nine Armenian charitable organizations will receive $3 million over the next two weeks as part of the $20 million settlement between descendants of Armenians who perished in the 1915 genocide and the New York Life Insurance Co.

The five organizations on the East Coast will each receive checks for $333,333.33 during a ceremony Wednesday in New York, with California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi attending.

A similar event is being organized in Los Angeles for the four other organizations.

Officials of the Burbank-based Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America said they have not yet received any official notification, but will welcome the money when it does come. They plan to use it for cultural and educational programs.

``It would be a great benefit to the diocese. All these organizations are building and have the need for funds, and obviously that kind of contribution to us is going to be very meaningful,'' said Armen Hampar, member of the diocesan council. ``We're looking forward to it and it will certainly enable the diocese to pursue new programs and enhance the ones that are now in effect.''

The Armenian Education Foundation, based in Glendale, is also slated to receive a check, and an official for the organization said the board will decide how to spend the money once they receive it.

The nine organizations, including New York's Armenian General Benevolent Union and New Jersey's Armenian Missionary Association of America, Inc., were chosen because they were instrumental in helping Armenians fleeing from the Turkish Ottoman Empire to the United States during the genocide of 1915, during which an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were massacred.

``As the grandson of two genocide survivors, I'm particularly pleased to be handing money to these organizations, because these kinds of organizations helped my grandparents when they first arrived here,'' said Brian Kabateck, one of the attorneys in the class-action lawsuit.

A class of 13 plaintiffs filed suit in November 1999 asking that New York Life divulge the names of Armenians who purchased life insurance policies in the Ottoman Empire and to properly compensate the beneficiaries of those policies.

Many of the thousands who purchased insurance policies were massacred during the genocide and rightful policy heirs were unable to obtain the insurance proceeds or were not aware they were entitled to insurance benefits.

The long-running suit was settled for $20 million in January 2004, including $6 million for attorneys' fees and administrative expenses and $11 million for the heirs of about 2,400 policyholders.

Now, potential heirs of policyholders have until March 15 to file a claim for a portion of the settlement.

If not filed by the deadline, their rights will be waived.

``A very important part of the settlement is providing compensation to the individual families that have been pursuing justice for their ancestors for all these years,'' said Paul Krekorian, who was appointed by Garamendi to the settlement fund board.

Naush Boghossian, [phone]

naush.boghossian(at)dailynews.com

CLAIM LIST

For more information on the settlement or to obtain a Notice of Claim form, call [phone] or visit www.armenianinsurancesettlement.com. The site includes a partial list of policyholders, but a policyholder's name does not have to appear on the list to be able to submit a Notice of Claim.

CAPTION(S):

box

Box:

CLAIM LIST (see text)