Two Southern California residents were arrested for allegedly defrauding Medicare out of millions of dollars.
The suspects, Sophia Shaklian, 36, of Los Angeles, and Alex Alexsanian, 47, of Burbank, were arrested Wednesday morning, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
They were accused of concocting a scheme to defraud Medicare out of more than $54 million through hospice and diagnostic testing services that were never provided.
The pair allegedly spent the stolen funds on millions of dollars worth of gold bars and coins, prosecutors said.
Officials said Shaklian often used aliases to manage and submit claims for seven health care providers in Los Angeles County that were enrolled with Medicare.
The businesses included a hospice company she owned — Chateau d’Lumina Hospice and Palliative Care in Pasadena — and several diagnostic testing companies including Saint Gorge Radiology in Sylmar, Hope Diagnostics in North Hollywood, Direct Imaging & Diagnostics and Lab One in Hollywood, and Labtech and Lifescan Diagnostics in Claremont.
From March 2019 to August 2024, these companies reportedly submitted over $54 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare for services that were neither provided nor needed, prosecutors said.
In total, they received over $23 million for those claims. Shaklian allegedly laundered Medicare funds paid to her company by transferring them to accounts using the fake name “Varsenic Babaian.”
The second suspect, Alexsanian, allegedly told a foreign national to open Saint Gorge Radiology and to acquire Medicare provider Console Hospice in Van Nuys. He then directed them to hand over control of those companies and their bank accounts to himself.
He conspired with the foreign national and other accomplices to have Saint Gorge Radiology and Console Hospice submit false claims to Medicare for services that were not provided, court documents said.
He reportedly laundered the money they received, as well as money deposited into their accounts using the fake “Varsenic Babaian” identity, and spent the money on lavish purchases including buying over $6 million in gold bars and coins.
Shaklian was charged with 16 counts of health care fraud and four counts of transactional money laundering. If convicted of all charges, she could face up to 10 years in prison for each fraud count and up to 20 years for each money laundering count.
Alexsanian was charged with one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and three counts of concealment money laundering. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison for each count.
Both suspects are scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in a U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles.
The case remains under investigation by the United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General and the FBI.
