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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A Glendale man pleaded guilty Monday to submitting false enrollment applications to Medicare that hid the real owners of a fraudulent hospice company, which then submitted over $3.6 million in bogus claims to Medicare.
Karen "Kevin" Sarkisyan, 44, submitted phony Medicare enrollment forms for San Gabriel Hospice and Palliative Care Inc., falsely identifying a straw owner as the sole owner and manager, concealing the actual beneficial owners and managers, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The company submitted more than $3.6 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, of which over $3.1 million was paid after Sarkisyan entered the bogus applications, the DOJ said.
Sarkisyan pleaded guilty in Los Angeles federal court to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 11 and faces up to five years in prison, according to the DOJ.
Co-conspirator Gayk Akhsharumov previously pleaded guilty to health care fraud conspiracy and is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 14. A third co- conspirator was indicted for his role in the scheme but remains a fugitive.