2 Sisters Acquitted in Jewelry District Case

A federal court jury on Monday acquitted two sisters of conspiracy and money-laundering charges in a case involving “Operation Polar Cap,” a massive drug and currency investigation focused in the jewelry district in downtown Los Angeles.

The jurors found Joyce Momjdian, 25, and Zepur Moroyan, 22, both of La Crescenta, not guilty of 26 charges against them in a 1989 indictment. The jury has now exonerated four of nine defendants in 12 days of deliberations and is continuing deliberations on the five other defendants.

“I’m happy, very happy” said a smiling Moroyan, a receptionist, after the verdicts were announced in the 7-month trial. Momjdian, a bookkeeper, said she was scared about what the jury might do, even though “inside I knew I hadn’t done anything.”

The two worked at Andonian Bros., a jewelry company on West 5th Street where a huge drug-laundering ring allegedly was centered. They said they are cousins of Nazareth Andonian, who is described by authorities as a key defendant in the case.