California Man Pleads Guilty to Defrauding Medicare in $17 Million Hospice Fraud Scheme

In a recent case, Petros Fichidzhyan, a 43-year-old man from Granada Hills, California, has pleaded guilty to charges of health care fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering in connection with a fraudulent scheme that deceived Medicare out of more than $17 million. The scheme spanned several years and involved the creation and operation of fake hospice companies resulting in millions of dollars of misappropriated funds through false Medicare claims.

Fichidzhyan and his co-conspirators allegedly ran a network of sham hospice companies that falsely billed Medicare for services never rendered. These companies were not legitimate providers, and the claims submitted to Medicare were for hospice care that was neither necessary nor provided. The scheme relied on false identities, including impersonating foreign nationals, to create the illusion of legitimate ownership and operation of these companies.

Fichidzhyan and his associates also used stolen doctor identities to submit fraudulent information to Medicare claiming that doctors had certified hospice care when, in fact, the supposed patients were not terminally ill and had never even been in contact with the sham hospices. As a result, Medicare paid nearly $16 million to these fraudulent entities. Fichidzhyan personally pocketed around $7 million of the proceeds. These illicit funds were laundered through a network of shell and third-party bank accounts, including over $5.3 million transferred to his personal and business accounts. Additionally, Fichidzhyan was found to have misappropriated over $1 million in home health care funds through the same fraudulent methods, paying a doctor $11,000 to conceal his role in the scheme.

Fichidzhyan’s sentencing is scheduled for April 14, where a federal district court judge will determine the final sentence, taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.