2 LA County residents arrested for scheme to steal $54 million from Medicare
A federal grand jury delivered an indictment on Wednesday charging two Los Angeles County residents with two dozen charges for an alleged scheme to defraud Medicare out of $54 million.
Sophia Shaklian, 36, faces 16 counts of healthcare fraud and four counts of transactional money laundering. The Department of Justice said the grand jury charged her alleged accomplice, 42-year-old Alex Alexsanian, with one count of conspiracy to laundry monetary instruments and three counts of concealment of money laundering.
If convicted, Shaklian could spend the next 240 years in federal prison. Alexsanian faces a maximum of 80 years in prison.
The alleged scheme lasted between March 2019 and Aug. 2024, according to the indictment. At the time, Shaklian managed and submitted claims for seven healthcare providers in LA County, all enrolled in Medicare. Prosecutors claimed she often used aliases.
The businesses included Pasadena-based Chateau d'Lumina Hospice and Palliative Care as well as several diagnostic testing companies:
- Saint Gorge Radiology in Sylmar
- Hope Diagnostics in North Hollywood
- Direct Imaging & Diagnostics and Lab One – both located in Hollywood
- Labtech and Lifescan Diagnostics in Claremont
During the roughly five-year span, the companies submitted more than $54 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare for services that were never provided or needed. The agency paid out nearly half of the claims, sending more than $23 million to Shaklian. She allegedly laundered the money paid to Chateau by sending it to an account registered to Varsenic Babaian, a fake identity.
Prosecutors claimed that Alexanian controlled the accounts for Saint Gorge Radiology after directing a foreign national to open the company while also acquiring Console Hospice, a Medicare provider in Van Nuys.
Alexanian and the foreign national, who eventually left the U.S., conspired with others to use the two companies to submit fraudulent Medicare claims, according to the DOJ. They allegedly had the funds deposited into their accounts through Shaklian's fake identity. They allegedly used the money to buy $6 million in gold bars and coins, as well as other items.