A Los Angeles woman was sentenced Tuesday, March 24, to nearly three years behind bars for her role in a scheme to defraud Medicare out of more than $14 million via hospice and diagnostic testing services that were frequently never provided.
Sophia Shaklian, 38, of the Larchmont neighborhood was also ordered to pay $14 million in restitution.
She had pleaded guilty in November 2025 to a single count of healthcare fraud.
Co-defendant Alex Alexsanian, 48, of Burbank pleaded guilty in January to money-laundering conspiracy and is scheduled for sentencing next month.
Prosecutors said Shaklian, often using aliases, submitted claims for seven healthcare providers enrolled with Medicare in Los Angeles County. The businesses included a hospice company she owned and several diagnostic-testing companies.
From March 2019 to August 2024, the companies submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare for services that were never provided and not needed, and received more than $14 million for those claims, federal prosecutors said.
Shaklian laundered Medicare funds by transferring them to accounts in the name of a fake identity, documents show.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Alexsanian directed a foreign national to open a radiology clinic and acquire Medicare provider Console Hospice in Van Nuys, then hand over control of those companies and their bank accounts and the foreign national’s personal bank accounts to Alexsanian.
Alexsanian conspired with the foreign national, who has since left the country, and others to have the clinic and Console Hospice submit fraudulent claims to Medicare for services never provided.