A San Fernando Valley man is expected to plead guilty Tuesday to a federal charge for his alleged role in a scheme to defraud Medicare out of more than $54 million via hospice and diagnostic testing services that were never provided.
Alex Alexsanian, 48, of Burbank, has agreed to enter a plea to one count of money laundering conspiracy.
Co-defendant Sophia Shaklian, 38, of the Larchmont neighborhood of Los Angeles, pleaded guilty in November to a single count of health care fraud and is set for sentencing on March 24.
A 24-count grand jury indictment filed in Los Angeles federal court two years ago charged both defendants with participating in the scheme.
Prosecutors said Shaklian, often using aliases, managed and submitted claims for seven health care providers enrolled with Medicare and located in Los Angeles County. The businesses included a hospice company she owned and several diagnostic testing companies.
From March 2019 to August 2024, the companies submitted more than $54 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare for services that were never provided and not needed, and received more than $23 million for those claims, federal prosecutors said.
Shaklian laundered Medicare funds by transferring them to accounts in the name of a fake identity, documents show.
Alexsanian allegedly directed a foreign national to open a radiology clinic and acquire Medicare provider Console Hospice in Van Nuys, then provide control of those companies and their bank accounts and the foreign national’s personal bank accounts to Alexsanian, prosecutors said.
Alexsanian conspired with the foreign national — who has since left the country — and others to have the clinic and Console Hospice submit fraudulent claims to Medicare for services that were never provided, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. They laundered the Medicare reimbursements they received, as well as funds deposited into their accounts through the phony identity, and used them to, among other things, buy more than $6 million in gold bars and coins, prosecutors allege.
If his plea is accepted, Alexsanian could face up to 20 years in federal prison, while Shaklian faces up to 10 years in prison, prosecutors noted.