{"id":230926,"date":"2026-03-22T05:32:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T05:32:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/230926\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T05:32:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T05:32:19","slug":"las-17m-mortgage-sting-9-arrested-in-sophisticated-house-stealing-scheme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/230926\/","title":{"rendered":"LA’s $17M mortgage sting: 9 arrested in sophisticated \u2018house stealing\u2019 scheme"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Arrests Arrests in sophisticated \u2018house stealing\u2019 scheme<\/a> <\/p>\n

Investigators said the group targeted elderly victims, stealing their personal identifying information and using it to access property records tied to homes in areas including Santa Monica, Hollywood, Hollywood Hills, Westwood and Chinatown.<\/p>\n

LOS ANGELES – An early morning crackdown Thursday, March 19 led by the FBI and local law enforcement resulted in multiple arrests tied to an alleged sophisticated mortgage fraud scheme spanning Southern California<\/a> and beyond, authorities announced.<\/p>\n

What we know:<\/p>\n

Federal agents, alongside Los Angeles police<\/a>, served warrants across Los Angeles County,<\/a> with related arrests in Florida<\/a> and Canada.\u00a0<\/p>\n

FOX 11 was the only television crew embedded with agents during a key operation in North Hollywood.<\/a><\/p>\n

During that raid, agents surrounded a home and took one suspect into custody. The man, dressed in pajamas, walked out with his hands up before being handcuffed. Several luxury vehicles were parked outside, and the property appeared recently remodeled.<\/p>\n

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Authorities say the arrests stem from a sweeping federal indictment unsealed this week.<\/p>\n

The case is the result of a years-long investigation led by the FBI\u2019s Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force, with assistance from the IRS, the LAPD, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Los Angeles County Sheriff\u2019s Department<\/a> and Glendale Police Department.<\/p>\n

9 arrested, 2 foreign nationals charged <\/p>\n

According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office, nine defendants \u2014 including two foreign nationals \u2014 were arrested on a 15-count federal indictment alleging they carried out a scheme to steal identities and fraudulently obtain loans backed by residential properties.<\/p>\n

Those arrested include:<\/p>\n

Nazaret Chakrian, 65, of HollywoodArnold Moradians, 57, of Hollywood, an Iranian national with an outstanding removal warrantAvetis Hekimyan, 38, of North HollywoodRoss Tarkhan, 32, of GlendaleTigran Hovanesian, 56, of GlendaleArmen Vardevaryan, 55, of North HollywoodCraig Higdon, 66, of Naples, FloridaHelen Spangler, 62, of Oakdale, CaliforniaVictor Lossi, 43, of Thousand OaksMarine Sarkisian, 49, of Hollywood, an Azerbaijani national and green card holder <\/p>\n

Authorities are still searching for at least one additional suspect.\u00a0 Most of the defendants are expected to appear in federal court in downtown Los Angeles.<\/a><\/p>\n

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How the scheme worked <\/p>\n

Dig deeper:<\/p>\n

Investigators said the group targeted elderly victims, stealing their personal identifying information and using it to access property records tied to homes in areas including Santa Monica<\/a>, Hollywood<\/a>, Hollywood Hills,<\/a> Westwood <\/a>and Chinatown.<\/a><\/p>\n

“It\u2019s a complex fraud scheme in which people are using private citizens\u2019 homes to leverage that to steal money,” said Akil Davis, assistant director in charge of the FBI\u2019s Los Angeles Field Office.<\/p>\n

According to prosecutors, the suspects:<\/p>\n

Created fake IDs and email accounts in victims\u2019 namesPosed as owners or representatives of the propertiesSubmitted fraudulent loan applications to private lendersFabricated financial documents, including bank statements and even death certificatesFraudulently notarized loan documentsFunneled money through shell accounts using synthetic identities <\/p>\n

Authorities say the group sought approximately $17.4 million in loans and successfully obtained about $6 million.<\/p>\n

Private lenders were allegedly misled into issuing loans based on false claims that the properties were legitimate collateral.<\/p>\n

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“They didn\u2019t just steal identities \u2014 they used those stolen identities to secure high-value real estate loans and move millions of dollars through fraudulent businesses,” said Tyler Hatcher, special agent in charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

Organized operation spanning multiple locations <\/p>\n

Local perspective:<\/p>\n

Investigators say the arrest in North Hollywood is tied to roughly 10 coordinated arrests carried out simultaneously across multiple jurisdictions.<\/p>\n

“This organized crime<\/a> network has their minions, so to speak, on the lending side and the theft side of it,” Davis said.<\/p>\n

Officials say the case reflects a growing trend of title and mortgage fraud targeting homeowners \u2014 particularly the elderly.<\/p>\n

“The growing problem of title fraud victimizes homeowners and lenders, many of whom are elderly,” Davis said.<\/p>\n

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli called the case part of a broader effort to crack down on fraud.<\/p>\n

“There is no shortage of massive fraud occurring within California,” Essayli said. “These defendants will be facing significant prison time for their charged conduct.”<\/p>\n

Potential penalties and ongoing investigation <\/p>\n

What’s next:<\/p>\n

All defendants are charged with conspiracy and wire fraud, with several also facing aggravated identity theft and money laundering charges.<\/p>\n

If convicted, they could face up to 20 years in federal prison for each fraud-related count, along with a mandatory two-year sentence for identity theft.<\/p>\n

Authorities say more arrests could follow as the investigation continues.<\/p>\n

“This indictment sends a clear message,” Hatcher said. “We will dismantle the money pipelines that allow complex fraud schemes to flourish.”<\/p>\n

The Source: This report is based on a press release from the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office and the FBI\u2019s Los Angeles Field Office.<\/p>\n

Crime and Public Safety<\/a>Santa Monica<\/a>Hollywood<\/a>Hollywood Hills<\/a>Westwood<\/a>Downtown LA<\/a>Instastories<\/a>Florida<\/a>World<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Arrests in sophisticated \u2018house stealing\u2019 scheme Investigators said the group targeted elderly victims, stealing their personal identifying information…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":230927,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1184,2042,6858,12190,1743,5014,2444,48,52,6086,51,47,137,50,49,100,8267,425,1181,36192,8074],"class_list":["post-230926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-ca","tag-crime-publicsafety","tag-dtla","tag-fl","tag-hollywood","tag-hollywood-hills","tag-instastories","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-los-angeles-county","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-county","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-news","tag-santa-monica","tag-series","tag-us","tag-westwood","tag-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}