A Los Angeles woman and a San Fernando Valley man were arrested on a 24-count federal grand jury indictment alleging a scheme to defraud Medicare out of more than $54 million via hospice and diagnostic testing services that were never provided and then laundered their illicit proceeds, including by buying millions of dollars’ worth of gold bars and coins. Sophia Shaklian, 36, of the Larchmont area of Los Angeles, and Alex Alexsanian, 47, of Burbank, were arrested early in the morning on October 9. Shaklian is charged with 16 counts of healthcare fraud and four counts of transactional money laundering. Alexsanian is charged with one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and three counts of concealment money laundering.
