Residents Sentenced, Hospice Fraud, Money Laundering Scheme Tuesday — Four California Residents Sentenced to Prison in Connection with $16M Hospice Fraud and Money Laundering Scheme | United States Justice Department.
After defrauding Medicare, the defendants moved the funds between various assets and accounts, including bank accounts in the names of shell companies, to conceal the scheme.In July 2025, Esparza pleaded guilty to health care fraud and transactional money laundering, Harutyunyan pleaded guilty to transactional money laundering, and Srapyan pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and transactional money laundering. In February 2025, Fichidzhyan pleaded guilty to health care fraud, aggravated identity theft, and concealment money laundering. announcement Four California Residents Sentenced to Prison in Connection with $16M Hospice Fraud and
Money Laundering Scheme Tuesday, November 18, 2025 Share Facebook X LinkedIn Email For Immediate Release Office of Public Affairs Four California residents were sentenced to prison for their roles in defrauding Medicare of nearly $16 million through sham hospice companies and laundering the fraudulent proceeds.Yesterday, Juan Carlos Esparza, 33, of Valley Village, was sentenced to 57 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution of $1,825,012, and Susanna Harutyunyan, 39, of Winnetka, was sentenced to 15 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution of $2,822,963.In October 2025, Karpis Srapyan, 35, of
Winnetka, was sentenced to 57 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution of $3,203,574.In September 2025, Mihran Panosyan, 47, of Winnetka, was sentenced to 57 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution of $4,680,146.Additionally, in May 2025, Petros Fichidzhyan, 44, of Granada Hills, was sentenced to 12 years in prison and ordered to pay restitution of $17,129,060. court filings state, Esparza schemed with others, including co-defendants Fichidzhyan and Srapyan, to bill Medicare for hospice services that were medically unnecessary and never provided. From July 2019 until January 2023, Esparza, Fichidzhyan, and Srapyan operated four sham hospices,