3 Family Members Convicted In $18 Million COVID Fraud Ring Captured In Montenegro
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Three members who went on the run after being convicted in an $18 million COVID fraud ring have reportedly been captured in Europe.
Richard Ayvazyan and his wife Marietta Terabelian cut off their GPS ankle monitors in September and disappeared, according to the FBI. Just a few months later, Ayvazyan's sister-in-law, Tamara Dadyan, was scheduled to surrender on Jan. 28 to begin her sentence of nearly 11 years, but failed to show up and was deemed a fugitive by the FBI.
The fugitives were reportedly captured in Montenegro, and the FBI is working on extraditing them back to the U.S.
Ayvazyan was accused of being the ringleader of a wide-ranging fraud ring that used fake or stolen identities to take out more than $18 million COVID relief loans. The money meant to save jobs was spent on luxury homes, lavish vacations, jewelry, and other high-end items. The ring also included his brother and Dadyan's husband, Artur Ayvazyan, and Dadyan's cousin, Vahe Dadyan.
Tamara Dadyan pleaded guilty to bank fraud, while the Ayvazyan brothers, Marietta Terabelian, and Vahe Dadyan were found guilty at the end of a federal trial last June. Richard Ayvazyan was sentenced in absentia to 17 years in federal prison, while his wife was given five years for her part in the fraud ring.