June 24, 2025 – A California man pleaded guilty on Monday, June 23rd to laundering more than $4.6 million in connection with a
years-long scheme to defraud Medicare of nearly $16 million through sham hospice companies.
According to court documents, Mihran Panosyan, 46, of Winnetka, worked with others to launder the proceeds of a massive Medicare fraud scheme, transferring the fraudulently obtained funds between multiple accounts before spending them. The scheme comprised three parts. First, three of Panosyan’s co-defendants used the identities of foreign nationals no longer in the United States to operate several sham hospice companies. Panosyan and his co-defendants maintained fraudulent identification documents, bank accounts, checkbooks, and credit and debit cards in the names of purported foreign owners. Second, the co-defendants caused the submission of false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for hospice services for patients who were not terminally ill and who never requested nor received hospice services. As a result, Medicare paid the sham hospices nearly $16 million. Third, Panosyan and his co-defendants laundered the proceeds of the scheme to conceal the source of the funds and their control over them. Panosyan transferred proceeds of the Medicare fraud between accounts in the names of the purported foreign owners, the sham hospices, and other shell corporations, laundering more than $4.6 million in fraudulently obtained funds that he used to purchase real estate, pay for private school for his minor child, and pay for other personal expenses.
Panosyan pleaded guilty to money laundering and is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 8. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors…