Four California Residents Sentenced to Prison in Connection with $16M Hospice Fraud and Money Laundering Scheme
Tuesday, November 18, 2025 - 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.
According to court documents, 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, one of which, House of Angels Hospice, was owned by Esparza. Fichidzhyan, Esparza and Srapyan concealed the scheme by using foreign nationals’ names and personally identifiable information to act as straw owners for the hospices and to open bank accounts, submit information to Medicare and sign property leases. They also controlled and used cell phones in the names of the foreign nationals in furtherance of the scheme. In total, Medicare paid the sham hospices nearly $16 million.
Fichidzhyan, Esparza, and Srapyan worked with others, including co-defendants Harutyunyan and Panosyan, to launder the fraudulent proceeds. As part of the money laundering scheme, the defendants maintained fraudulent identification documents and other documents associated with the sham hospices, as well as bank documents, checkbooks and credit and debit cards in the names of purported foreign owners. 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 June 2025, Panosyan pleaded guilty to concealment money laundering. In February 2025, Fichidzhyan pleaded guilty to health care fraud, aggravated identity theft, and concealment money laundering. At sentencing in May 2025, the court preliminarily ordered the forfeiture of two homes bought with fraud proceeds. The government has also seized $2,920,383 from bank accounts associated with the fraud.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Assistant Director in Charge Akil Davis of the FBI Los Angeles Field Office; and Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Christian J. Schrank of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) made the announcement.
FBI and HHS-OIG are investigating the case.
Trial Attorneys Sarah E. Edwards, Allison L. McGuire, and Michael Bacharach of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tara B. Vavere for the Central District of California is handling asset forfeiture.
The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s efforts to combat health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program. Since March 2007, this program, currently comprised of 9 strike forces operating in 27 federal districts, has charged more than 5,800 defendants who collectively have billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $30 billion. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.
U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
Source: Justice.gov
