Four California residents connected to fraudulent hospices were sentenced to prison and ordered to pay restitution in recent months, according to a press release published by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Nov. 18, 2025. 
 
Juan Carlos Esparza, Karpis Srapyan, Mihran Panosyan and Susanna Harutyunyan were found to have defrauded Medicare of approximately $16 million by billing for hospice care that was not medically necessary or ever provided, according to the DOJ. The billing was submitted through four sham hospice agencies from July 2019 to January 2023. 
 
“Esparza and Srapyan concealed the scheme by using foreign nationals’ names and personally identifiable information to act as straw owners for the hospices and to open bank accounts, submit information to Medicare and sign property leases,” DOJ officials stated in the press release. “They also controlled and used cell phones in the names of the foreign nationals in furtherance of the scheme.” 
 
The defendants’ prison sentences range from 15 to 57 months in length.