U.S. court convicts another Armenian for Medicare fraud

PanARMENIAN.Net - An undocumented Armenian will serve five years in prison for laundering money obtained in a massive Medicare fraud scheme that operated from phony clinics in Brunswick and other cities, jacksonville.com reports.

Just minutes after U.S. District Judge Lisa Godbey Wood imposed the sentence on Sahak Tumanyan, 44, a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent served him with deportation papers in the courtroom.

She also ordered him to serve three years’ probation once he’s released and to pay nearly $309,000 restitution.

Woods covered the possible deportation in her sentence, ordering Tumanyan to stay out of the U.S. and any of its territories during his probation should he be deported.

Tumanyan pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy in the scheme that operated out of Los Angeles where he and his wife lived. In exchange for his plea and assistance in prosecuting a case that stretches through phony clinics across the nation, the government dismissed charges against his wife and asked Wood to impose a more lenient sentence. She declined, saying the penalty called for in federal guidelines was appropriate for the crime and Tumanyan’s involvement.

His involvement was to take the money Medicare paid out for false claims and then pass it through several phony businesses in the Los Angeles area before withdrawing cash, keeping some and passing on the rest to principals in the scheme.

FBI Special Agent Tony Alig testified that $5,433,230 in claims were submitted through Brunswick Medical Supply Inc. for equipment that was never provided. It was nothing more than a shell company through which the conspirators used the stolen identities of Medicare beneficiaries to bill for walkers, canes and other equipment never delivered.

Medicare paid out about $1.5 million of the claims from Brunswick, Alig testified. The reimbursement checks were mailed to Los Angeles, where Tumanyan immediately passed the money through businesses that existed only to launder money, Alig testified.

Sahak and Hasmik Tumanyan set up at least seven accounts and used their home as a phony business address with a cellphone as the business phone, Alig said.

One of the masterminds of the scheme, Arthur Manasarian, also of Los Angeles, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and aggravated identity theft. He is serving 14 years in prison and must repay $1.8 million.

Khoren Gasparian, 28, of Las Cruces, N.M., has pleaded guilty to conspiracy and health care fraud and is awaiting sentencing. He willingly returned from Russia to face the charges and assist in the investigation.

Interpol is still looking for Gegham Sargsyan, 57, who left the country before he was indicted.