Eleven people suspected of being involved in a complex mortgage fraud have been taken into custody, police announced Tuesday.
Detectives assigned to the Los Angeles Police Department’s Commercial Crimes Division – Real Estate Fraud Unit in joint collaboration with the Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force, which includes agents from the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigations and the Glendale Police Department, conducted an investigation dubbed Operation Hard Money, which led to the arrests, the LAPD said.
The investigation began in 2022 and stemmed from a fraudulent loan of $5.7 million, authorities said.
Police said the suspects stole a victim’s personal information, created several fraudulent accounts in the victim’s name, fabricated documents, impersonated the victim and forged the victim’s signature.
Further investigation led detectives to identified two additional victims who underwent the same alleged scheme, uncovering additional loans totaling $17 million linked to the same group of suspects.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office obtained a 15-count federal indictment that included wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering, leading to the arrests of:
— Nazaret Chakrian, 65, of Hollywood;
— Arnold Moradians, 57, of Hollywood;
— Avetis Hekimyan, 38, of North Hollywood;
— Marine Sarkisian, 49, of Hollywood;
— Victor Lossi, 43, of Thousand Oaks;
— Cynthia Borjas, 51, of Koreatown;
— Armen Vardevaryan, 55, of North Hollywood;
— Ross Tarkhan, 32, of Glendale;
— Craig Higson, 66, of Naples, Florida;
— Helen Spangler, 62, of Oakdale; and
— Tigran Hovanesian, 56, of Glendale.
“Common elements of the fraud scheme include victims who are all over 70 years old, own multiple properties outright with no mortgages, debt, liens, or encumbrances,” the police department said in a statement.
Detectives with the Real Estate Fraud Unit suspect there are potential additional victims of the scheme and encouraged anyone with information regarding the investigation to contact the Commercial Crimes Division at 213-486-6620 between 6 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Calls made during non-business hours should be directed to 877-527-3247. Tipsters who prefer to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or visit lacrimestoppers.org.