A Burbank man was sentenced Thursday to four years, three months in federal prison for evading the payment of more than $11.2 million in federal taxes by using a shill to illegally collect Medicare reimbursement payments made to his blood-testing company.
Armen Muradyan, 60, was also ordered to pay $15.1 million in restitution.
Muradyan pleaded guilty last year in Los Angeles federal court to one count each of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, wire fraud and tax evasion.
Muradyan, a dual citizen of the United States and Armenia, was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport in April 2024 prior to boarding a flight to Armenia.
According to court documents, Muradyan owned and operated a Burbank-based blood testing laboratory called Genex Laboratories Inc. Medicare and bank records show that Medicare paid millions of dollars in reimbursements to Genex for blood testing.
The reimbursements were wired to bank accounts in the name of an individual identified in court documents by the initials L.S., Muradyan’s longtime friend to whom Muradyan had offered to pay $2,000 per month to pretend to be Genex’s owner.
Muradyan told L.S. that he needed him to submit Medicare enrollment papers to Medicare on Genex’s behalf because Medicare had banned Muradyan from submitting claims, evidence shows.
L.S. and Muradyan opened bank accounts for Genex in L.S.’s name, but which Muradyan controlled. L.S. neither owned nor operated Genex and visited the company’s Burbank office to collect his $2,000 monthly payment and to sometimes sign documents at Muradyan’s direction, according to the indictment.
Muradyan also did not file tax returns for the years 2021 through 2023.
In total, Muradyan’s unreported federal taxable income was about $23.9 million, resulting in a total federal income tax due and owing by him of over $11.2 million plus prejudgment interest of $3.9 million, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In July 2020, Muradyan wired a false and fraudulent application for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan that was funded by federal taxpayers. On the application, Muradyan falsely stated that an entity, GenMed, employed multiple people and generated $800,000 in income for the year 2019.
In fact, Muradyan knew GenMed employed no one and generated zero income for that year. The U.S. Small Business Administration wired $99,900 to a bank account Muradyan controlled. He then used the money for personal expenses not permitted under the terms of the EIDL. Muradyan admitted he acted with the intent to deceive and cheat the SBA.