Two individuals in California have been arrested for their roles in a $54 million scheme to defraud Medicare for hospice and diagnostic testing.
One of the alleged perpetrators, Sophia Shaklian, has been charged with 16 counts of health care fraud and four for transactional money laundering. A second, Alex Alexsanian, is charged with one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and three counts of concealment money laundering.
The laundering allegedly included purchases of $6 million in gold coins and bars using illicit proceeds, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
“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,” the Justice Department indicated in a statement. “Alexsanian would face up to 20 years in federal prison for each count.”
A federal grand jury indictment alleges that Shaklian, often using aliases, submitted claims for seven Los Angeles-area health care providers, including a hospice she owned, the Pasadena-based Chateau d’Lumina Hospice and Palliative Care.
Other claims were for several diagnostic testing companies: Saint George Radiology, Hope Diagnostics, Direct Imaging & Diagnostics, Lab One, Labtech and Lifescan Diagnostics.
From March 2019 to August 2024, these companies allegedly submitted more than $54 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare for services that were never provided and not needed.
In total, they received more than $23 million for those claims, the Justice Department reported. Shaklian allegedly laundered Medicare funds paid to Chateau by transferring them to accounts in the name of “Varsenic Babaian,” a fake identity.
Alexsanian allegedly directed a foreign national to open Saint George Radiology, and to acquire Medicare provider Console Hospice in Van Nuys, California, and then provide control of those companies and their bank accounts and the foreign national’s personal bank accounts to Alexsanian.
“An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime,” the Justice Department indicated in a statement. “Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Companies featured in this article:
Chateau d’Lumina Hospice and Palliative Care, Console Hospice, U.S. Justice Department