Fraudsters arrested for $54M alleged scheme to bilk Medicare via radiology, hospice care
Two Los Angeles-area residents have been indicted for an alleged scheme to defraud Medicare of $54 million via sham claims for radiology and hospice services that were never provided.
Authorities arrested Sophia Shaklian, 36, of Los Angeles, and Alex Alexsanian, 47, of Burbank, California, on the morning of Oct. 9. The two were scheduled to be arraigned the same day in the U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles.
Shaklian, who went by various aliases, is charged with 16 counts of healthcare fraud and four counts of transactional money laundering. Alexsanian is charged with one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and three counts of concealing these alleged activities.
Between March 2019 and August of this year, Shaklian managed and submitted claims for seven healthcare providers enrolled in Medicare in Los Angeles County. Among them were a hospice company she owned (Pasadena-based Chateau d’Lumina Hospice and Palliative Care), according to the indictment returned by a federal grand jury on Oct. 2. The scheme also involved multiple diagnostic imaging companies—Saint Gorge Radiology in Sylmar; Hope Diagnostics in North Hollywood; Direct Imaging & Diagnostics and Lab One, both in Hollywood; and Labtech and Lifescan Diagnostics in Claremont.
The claims amounted to over $54 million for unnecessary services that were never provided. In total, the pair collected $23 million, with Shaklian allegedly laundering Medicare funds paid to Chateau d’Lumina Hospice and Palliative Care by transferring them to accounts in the name of “Varsenic Babaian,” a fake identity.
Alexsanian purportedly directed a foreign national to open Saint Gorge Radiology and acquire Console Hospice, in the Van Nuys neighborhood of Los Angeles. The unidentified individual then provided control of those two companies and their corresponding bank accounts, along with the foreign national’s personal banking information.
The 47-year-old Burbank resident and his foreign co-conspirator (who soon fled the country) submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare for services never provided by the two companies. They then laundered the reimbursements through the fake “Babaian” identity, using the money to buy $6 million in gold bars and coins, among other purchases.
If convicted on all charges, Shaklian faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for each healthcare fraud count and up to 20 years for each money laundering charge. Alexsanian would face up to 20 years in federal prison for each count. HHS and the FBI also are investigating the matter.
“An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,” the U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California, said in a news announcement shared Oct. 9.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.