California man pleads guilty in $54M radiology and hospice care fraud scheme

A fraudster has pleaded guilty to charges he took part in a $54 million Medicare scam that involved radiology and other healthcare services. 

Alex Alexsanian, 48, of Burbank, California, entered a plea to one count of money laundering conspiracy on Jan. 20. He was previously arrested by Golden State authorities in October 2024 for participating in a wide-ranging plot to bilk Medicare for imaging services that were never performed. 

Sentencing is slated for April 28, with Alexsanian potentially facing up to 20 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. His accomplice Sophia Shaklian, 38, of Los Angeles, previously pleaded guilty in November and could spend up to 10 years in jail, with her sentencing slated for March, local media reports. 

As detailed previously, between 2019 and 2024, Shaklian managed and submitted claims for seven healthcare providers enrolled in Medicare across Los Angeles County. Among them were a hospice company she owned, according to the original indictment. 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 more than $54 million for unnecessary services that were never provided. In total, the pair pocketed $23 million, with Shaklian laundering Medicare funds paid to her hospice business by transferring them to accounts in the name of “Varsenic Babaian,” a fake identity. 

Alexsanian purportedly directed a previously unidentified foreign national to open Saint Gorge Radiology and acquire Console Hospice, in the Van Nuys neighborhood of Los Angeles. The accomplice, now identified as Dmytro Malakhov, then provided control of those two companies and their corresponding bank accounts to Alexsanian. He and Malakhov (who soon fled the country) subsequently 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. 

“In order to conceal his control over and use of these accounts, [Alexsanianan] did not change the name of the owner … or add himself as signatory, but instead assumed Malakhov’s identity in using the accounts,” court documents state

To conceal and disguise illegal transfers, those involved would write checks and wire money from Saint Gorge Radiology’s to Malakhov’s personal accounts. In a June 2020 instance, Alexsanianan used his co-conspirator’s personal account to purchase $74,000 in precious metals, later delivered to his apartment the following day. During the conspiracy, he laundered somewhere between $1.5 million and $3.5 million in funds procured through healthcare fraud, authorities estimate. 

As part of the plea agreement inked in December, Alexsanian has agreed to forfeit $3 million, the sum of which he admits was involved in the scam. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, on the other side, is agreeing to dismiss other charges originally brought against him previously. Along with a maximum sentence of 20 years, he also would subsequently face a three-year-period of supervised release and a fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction (whichever is greatest).