In a striking example of Medicare fraud, a California man has pleaded guilty to laundering over $4.6 million in connection with a massive hospice fraud scheme that bilked Medicare out of nearly $16 million.
Mihran Panosyan, 46, of Winnetka, admitted to orchestrating a complex money laundering operation designed to hide the proceeds of fraudulent Medicare claims submitted by sham hospice companies.
The scheme involved three major components:
- Co-defendants used the stolen identities of foreign nationals to create and operate fictitious hospice providers. They maintained fraudulent passports, bank accounts, and financial instruments to support the illusion of legitimate foreign ownership.
- Hospices submitted fake Medicare claims for services supposedly provided to patients who were neither terminally ill nor aware they were enrolled in hospice care.
- Panosyan shuffled the money between shell companies, sham hospice accounts, and bank accounts linked to the stolen identities, using the funds to pay private school tuition and to cover personal expenses.
Panosyan pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering and will be sentenced to up to 20 years on September 8, 2025. His co-defendent, Petros Fichidzhyan, has already pleaded guilty and has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Find Corporate Waste tracks abuses like these to ensure that schemes targeting taxpayer funds are shut down. Fraud like this must be addressed, so if you know of a company or individual exploiting federal contracts or benefits, we encourage whistleblowers to contact us.
