Medicare hospice fraud is an escalating concern, targeting our vulnerable senior populations. This issue not only drains taxpayer dollars but also exploits individuals in their final stages of life, undermining the integrity of the hospice care system. The average taxpayer knows the value of this program. The average fraudster doesn’t care. Like Karpis Srapyan, who along with his conspirators, Susanna Harutyunyan and Juan Carlos Esparza, fraudulently billed Medicare millions of dollars for hospice services that were not medically necessary and never provided. Not only were they stealing from the U.S. taxpayer, but they were robbing resources that from Stealing money and resources from the U.S. taxpayer at a time when they need comfort and care the most.
Srapyan used a series of four sham hospice companies that he himself did not control. One was owned by Esparza while the other three were owned by foreign nationals. Srapyan concealed his name in the scheme by using the foreign nationals’ personal identifying information to open bank accounts, sign property leases, and submit application information to Medicare. He also fraudulently used the names and identifying information of several doctors to bill Medicare for purported hospice services. Two of those physicians happened to be deceased but that didn’t get in the way of Medicare paying the fake hospice companies nearly $16 million.
On July 8, Srapyan pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and money laundering along with her co-conspirator Susanna Harutyunyan. Harutyunyan was the bookkeeper that maintained the fraudulent identification documents, documents, checkbooks, and credit and debit cards in the names of purported foreign owners. With these documentations, Srapyan and Harutunyan moved millions of dollars between bank accounts in the names of the sham hospice companies and the accounts in the names of the foreign nationals.
Great job by the F.B.I. in this case.
Today’s Fraud of The Day is based on article “California women plead guilty in $16M hospice fraud, money laundering case: DOJ” published by The National News Desk on July 8, 2025.
Two California women pleaded guilty for defrauding Medicare of nearly $16 million through what the U.S. Department of Justice described as “sham hospice companies” and “laundering the proceeds of the fraud as part of a multi-year scheme.”
The women were identified as Karpis Srapyan, 35, and Susanna Harutyunyan, 39, both of Winnetka, Cali. Citing court documents, the Justice Department said Srapyan conspired with two other people — Petros Fichidzhyan and Juan Carlos Esparza — to bill Medicare for hospice services that were never provided.
