Los Angeles has been the stage for a brazen fraud operation, as five individuals were taken into custody on allegations of crafting an elaborate scheme to swindle Medicare out of more than $15 million. Unsealed indictments reveal a tale of sham hospice companies and intricate money laundering activities orchestrated by the group. According to the Office of Public Affairs, the arrests yesterday, with charges including health care fraud, conspiracy, money laundering, and aggravated identity theft.
At the heart of the alleged operation were Petros Fichidzhyan, Juan Carlos Esparza, and Karpis Srapyan. These defendants are accused of camouflaging their hospice businesses as owned by foreign nationals when, in reality, they controlled them. They reportedly exploited the identities of these foreigners to interact with banks, sign leases, and make calls to Medicare. The indictment describes how the defendants purported to provide necessary hospice services to patients who were not terminally ill—patients who had neither sought nor received care from these hospices. In furtherance of the scheme, the suspects also misappropriated the identifying information of doctors, weaving a narrative of legitimacy for Medicare officials.
Susanna Harutyunyan and Mihran Panosyan, the other defendants implicated in the operation, allegedly collaborated with Fichidzhyan, Esparza, and Srapyan to launder the illicit funds from Medicare. As per the Office of Public Affairs, these proceeds were funneled into purchases such as real estate and vehicles. This foiled plot is the latest to come to light in the Los Angeles area as federal authorities clamp down on hospice fraud.
If convicted, each of the defendants could face a maximum of 40 years in prison, with Fichidzhyan, Esparza, and Srapyan also facing an additional mandatory minimum two-year sentence for aggravated identity theft. Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, Acting Assistant Director in Charge Krysti E. Hawkins of the FBI Los Angeles Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Timothy B. DeFrancesca of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s Los Angeles Regional Office were the ones who announced these arrests. The trial attorneys Eric C. Schmale and Sarah E. Edwards of a Criminal Division’s Fraud Section will lead the prosecution.
