A San Fernando Valley man has admitted scamming Medicare from nearly $16 million through a network of fake hospice companies and washing his proceeds to hide his plans, federal authorities announced Monday.
According to the US Department of Justice, Juan Carlos Esparza, 33, of the Valley Village, was recognized for allowing judicial health care fraud and laundry of transactions that began July 14th.
Esparza is one of several defendants charged with the scheme, and federal officials have been described as part of a broader effort to combat hospice fraud in the large territories of Los Angeles.
According to court documents, from July 2019 to January 2023, Esparza and co-defendants Petros Ficijan and Calpis Slapian ran four unauthorized hospices. Esparza owns one of the facilities known as the House of Angels Hospice, and controlled others through the use of foreigners listed as nominal owners.
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Federal agents said the group will use these foreign identities to open bank accounts, secure real estate leases and register telephone numbers used in the fraud. Medicare ultimately paid nearly $16 million for fake hospice based on these manufactured claims.
In addition to healthcare scams, Esparza, including co-defendants Susanna Hartiunyan and Mifran Panosian, are allegedly laundered their money by cycling through various bank accounts and shell companies. Prosecutors said Esparza used at least $90,000 in illegal revenue to purchase the vehicle.
Investigators recovered fraudulent IDs, bank records and other documents on the House of Angels Office and two residential properties associated with the operation. According to prosecutors, the goal was to blur the funds behind the hospice and the origins of the true operators.
Esparza is scheduled to be sentenced on October 6th. He faces up to 10 years in prison for each of the two charges. A federal judge will decide the final sentence after considering the applicable guidelines.
This latest conviction is part of the ongoing federal crackdown on hospice-related fraud.
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According to the Justice Department, co-defendant Fichijan has already been sentenced to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to health care fraud, identity theft and money laundering.
Panosyan, Srapyan and Harutyunyan have each won guilty pleas for related charges and are expected to be sentenced later this year. Harutyunyan is also facing potential deportation.
The case is being charged by trial lawyers Sarah E. Edwards, Allison L. McGuire and Michael Bacharach of the Department of Justice’s criminal division, where US lawyer Tara B. Ververe handles the forfeiture of the property. The FBI and the Department of Health and Human Services inspectors’ office are conducting an investigation.
In a statement, Associate Assistant Advisor Matthew R. Galeotti, Assistant Director of the Field Office of FBI Los Angeles, Akil Davis, and Associate Inspector Christian J. Schrank for the investigation of HHS-OIG Associate Inspectors, highlighted the department’s commitment to cracking down on health care fraud.
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