Prosecutors have uncovered a massive Medicare fraud scheme run by two individuals in Southern California.
The scheme involved multiple local medical facilities, foreign nationals, fake bank accounts and the laundering of millions of dollars using gold bars and coins to an apartment in Glendale.
Larchmont-area resident Sophia Shaklian, 36, and Alex Alexsanian, 47, of Burbank, are accused of submitting more than $54 million in fraudulent Medicare claims for hospice and diagnostic testing services that were never provided, then illegally laundering the $23 million they received in reimbursements, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California and the indictment. (Related: Health insurance companies overcharged Medicare by over $50 BILLION for fake illnesses.)
As part of that scheme, about $6 million in gold bars and coins were purchased and moved through an apartment a few blocks from The Americana at Brand in Glendale, according to the indictment.
The two were arrested on Oct. 9 and indicted on 24 counts altogether by a federal grand jury in connection with incidents over the last five years. Shaklian has been charged with 16 counts of health care fraud and four for transactional money laundering. Alexsanian, on the other hand, is charged with one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and three counts of concealment money laundering.
Shaklian faces 240 years, Alexsanian 80 years in prison
If convicted of all charges, Shaklian would face a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for each health care fraud count and up to 20 years in federal prison for each money laundering count for a total of 240 years. Alexsanian would face up to 20 years in federal prison for each count for a total of 80 years.
According to the indictment that a federal grand jury returned on Oct. 2, Shaklian used aliases to submit fraudulent claims for seven healthcare providers enrolled with Medicare in Los Angeles County.
A business she owned, Chateau d'Lumina Hospice and Palliative Care in Pasadena, was listed in the indictment to have allegedly participated in the scheme. Several diagnostic testing companies, such as Saint George Radiology, Hope Diagnostics, Direct Imaging & Diagnostics, Lab One, Labtech and Lifescan Diagnostics, were also named.
Shaklian allegedly transferred Medicare funds paid to her company to an account with the fake name "Varsenic Babaian."
Alexsanian allegedly conspired with a foreign national and others to open Saint George Radiology and acquire Medicare provider Console Hospice. Together, they allegedly submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare and laundered the reimbursements, including funds deposited into their accounts under the "Babaian" name, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
It said Alexsanian had control of those companies and bank accounts, including the foreign individual’s bank account, and that the individual fled the country. Tthe U.S. Attorney's Office said the foreign national is a citizen of Ukraine.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are continuing to investigate the case.
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