A Glendale man is scheduled to be sentenced March 2 for conspiring to commit bank fraud in connection with a scheme that submitted more than $1.9 million in falsified claims to the government for COVID-19 pandemic relief funds.
Sarkis Garadzhyan pleaded guilty Monday in Los Angeles federal court to a single count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, according to the Internal Revenue Service.
Prosecutors said Garadzhyan and co-conspirators created and operated multiple fake businesses, including one called Arizona Hospice Inc., to fraudulently apply for federal pandemic relief program funds. The defendant falsely claimed to have large payrolls at several shell companies and submitted forged tax documents to support the applications, according to his plea agreement.
“Mr. Garadzhyan deliberately stole from programs designed to keep American businesses afloat during a national emergency,” Tyler Hatcher, IRS Criminal Investigation special agent in charge, Los Angeles bureau, said in a statement. “Such blatant abuse of taxpayer-funded relief will not be tolerated. The men and women of IRS-CI will continue to pursue criminals who exploit pandemic relief funds.”
Using stolen identities, Garadzhyan and his co-conspirators secured a $150,000 Economic Injury Disaster Loan and a $929,433 Paycheck Protection Program loan. They also obtained an additional $842,666 PPP loan in the name of Arizona Hospice, which was later frozen by Bank of America due to suspected fraud, federal prosecutors said.
Despite knowing the funds were obtained fraudulently, the defendant attempted to persuade the bank to release the money by falsely claiming it was needed to meet payroll obligations — when, in fact, the company had no employees, court papers show.
Garadzhyan could face up to 30 years in federal prison at sentencing, prosecutors said.
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