Winnetka man gets nearly 5 years for role in $16M Medicare fraud

A San Fernando Valley man was sentenced Monday, Oct. 6, to four years and nine months behind bars for his role in conning Medicare out of nearly $16 million through sham hospice companies and then helping launder the illicit proceeds.

Karpis Srapyan, 35, was also ordered to pay restitution of $3.2 million to Medicare, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Winnetka man pleaded guilty in July in Los Angeles federal court to counts of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and money laundering.

According to court documents, Srapyan and others worked together to bill Medicare for hospice services that were not medically necessary and never provided. The defendants used four sham hospice companies, including three owned by foreign nationals but controlled by the defendants, according to federal prosecutors.

The group concealed the scheme by using foreign nationals’ personal information to open bank accounts, submit information to Medicare and sign property leases, the DOJ stated.

They also used names and personal information of several doctors —two of them dead — to fraudulently bill Medicare for purported hospice services, court papers show. In total, Medicare paid the fake hospice companies nearly $16 million, prosecutors said.

As part of the money-laundering scheme, Srapyan and others maintained fraudulent identification documents, bank documents, checkbooks, and credit and debit cards.

Court records show Srapyan conducted dozens of transactions, totaling nearly $3.2 million, moving funds between accounts in the names of the sham hospice companies, accounts in the names of foreign nationals that were controlled by the defendants, and other accounts involved in the money-laundering scheme.

Medicare is a federal health-insurance program for anyone age 65 and older, and some people under 65 with certain disabilities or conditions.