A San Fernando Valley man has pleaded guilty to defrauding Medicare out of nearly $16 million through a network of sham hospice companies and laundering the proceeds to conceal the scheme, federal authorities announced Monday.
Juan Carlos Esparza, 33, of Valley Village, admitted to healthcare fraud and transactional money laundering in a plea entered July 14, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Esparza is one of several defendants charged in the scheme, which federal officials described as part of a broader effort to combat hospice fraud in the greater Los Angeles area.
According to court documents, from July 2019 to January 2023, Esparza and co-defendants Petros Fichidzhyan and Karpis Srapyan operated four fraudulent hospices, billing Medicare for end-of-life care services that were neither necessary nor provided. Esparza owned one of the facilities, called House of Angels Hospice, and helped control the others through the use of foreign nationals listed as nominal owners.
Federal investigators said the group used the identities of these foreign nationals to open bank accounts, secure property leases, and register phone numbers used in the fraud. Medicare ultimately paid the sham hospices nearly $16 million based on these fabricated claims.
In addition to the healthcare fraud, Esparza and others, including co-defendants Susanna Harutyunyan and Mihran Panosyan, allegedly laundered the money by cycling it through various bank accounts and shell companies. Prosecutors said Esparza used at least $90,000 in illicit proceeds to purchase a vehicle.
Investigators recovered fraudulent IDs, bank records, and other documents at the House of Angels office and in two residential properties linked to the operation. The goal, prosecutors said, was to obscure the origins of the funds and the true operators behind the hospices.
Esparza is scheduled to be sentenced on October 6. He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison for each of the two charges. A federal judge will determine the final sentence after considering applicable guidelines.
This latest conviction is part of an ongoing federal crackdown on hospice-related fraud.
According to the Justice Department, co-defendant Fichidzhyan has already been sentenced to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to healthcare fraud, identity theft, and money laundering.
Panosyan, Srapyan, and Harutyunyan have each entered guilty pleas on related charges and are scheduled to be sentenced later this year. Harutyunyan also faces potential deportation.
The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Sarah E. Edwards, Allison L. McGuire, and Michael Bacharach of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Tara B. Vavere handling asset forfeiture. The FBI and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General are conducting the investigation.
In a statement, Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti, FBI Los Angeles Field Office Assistant Director Akil Davis, and HHS-OIG Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Christian J. Schrank underscored the department’s commitment to cracking down on healthcare fraud.