Due to allegations of cheating Medicare out of millions of dollars, two citizens of Southern California were placed under arrest.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office reports that the suspects, Alex Alexsanian, 47, of Burbank, and Sophia Shaklian, 36, of Los Angeles, were taken into custody early on Wednesday morning.
They were charged with creating a plot to trick Medicare out of over $54 million by offering services for diagnostic tests and hospice care that would never be rendered.
According to authorities, the two reportedly used the pilfered money to purchase gold bars and coins valued at millions of dollars.
According to officials, Shaklian frequently managed and filed claims under aliases for seven Medicare-eligible medical providers in Los Angeles County.
The companies included a diagnostic testing company, Saint Gorge Radiology in Sylmar, Hope Diagnostics in North Hollywood, Direct Imaging & Diagnostics and Lab One in Hollywood, Labtech and Lifescan Diagnostics in Claremont, and a hospice company she owned, Chateau d’Lumina Hospice and Palliative Care in Pasadena.
Prosecutors alleged that these organizations fraudulently submitted over $54 million in claims to Medicare between March 2019 and August 2024 for treatments that were neither rendered nor necessary.
They were paid more than $23 million in total for such claims. It is stated that Shaklian transferred Medicare payments provided to her company under the fictitious name “Varsenic Babaian” in order to launder them.
Alexsanian, the second suspect, is accused of having instructed a foreign national to establish Saint Gorge Radiology and purchase Console Hospice, a Medicare provider, in Van Nuys. He then gave them instructions to give him full control of those businesses and their bank accounts.
According to court records, he plotted with the foreign national and other conspirators to have Console Hospice and Saint Gorge Radiology submit bogus claims to Medicare for treatments that were never rendered.
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He allegedly used the fictitious “Varsenic Babaian” alias to launder both the money they received and the money deposited into their accounts. He then lavishly spent the money on opulent items, such as more than $6 million worth of gold bars and coins.
Three counts of concealing money laundering and one count of conspiracy to launder financial instruments were brought against Alexsanian. He might spend up to 20 years in prison on each count if found guilty.
Tuesday’s arraignment for both suspects is set to take place in a downtown Los Angeles U.S. District Court.
The FBI and the Office of the Inspector General of the United States Department of Health and Human Services are still looking into the case.
By: ktla.com
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