What happened next to Argo is a subject of debate. Avakian maintains that Argo was profitable and booming before he left and that he had no subsequent day-to-day involvement with the company, which struggled financially, shuttered most of its locations and faced a series of lawsuits related to unpaid obligations in the following years. But legal filings indicate Avakian was both president and a director of an entity that later acquired Argo’s debt and assets, for $10.6 million, and went bankrupt during the pandemic. A default judgment was entered against Argo in favor of one landlord who had accused Avakian and others of fraudulently transferring its assets to a shell corporation to avoid paying creditors. (A spokesperson for Avakian says, “The facts show Arsen was wrongly accused.”)