{"id":458435,"date":"2026-02-09T16:16:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T16:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/458435\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T16:16:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T16:16:12","slug":"southern-california-businesses-say-theyre-hurting-after-viral-dr-oz-video-alleging-health-care-fraud-in-area-east-bay-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/458435\/","title":{"rendered":"Southern California businesses say they\u2019re hurting after viral Dr. Oz video alleging health care fraud in area \u2013 East Bay Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The office of a Van Nuys real estate services agency was quiet on a recent work day, void of customers or calls.<\/p>\n

That was unusual, said owner Edward Akhparian.<\/p>\n

He wasn\u2019t the only one who noticed the\u00a0change.<\/p>\n

Some neighboring business owners said\u00a0they, too, took a hit after Dr. Mehmet Oz, a top federal health official in the Trump administration, posted a now-viral video<\/a> in which he talked about alleged rampant health care fraud in Los Angeles County. In the video, Oz stood outside a small shopping center full of Armenian American businesses, including one\u00a0that he identified as a hospice center.<\/p>\n

Besides Akhparian\u2019s office, other businesses located within that shopping center include an insurance firm, pharmacy and food market. The owners of some of those companies said business was down 20% to 30% for at least several days after Oz\u2019s Jan. 27 video.<\/p>\n

\"Edgar<\/p>\n

Edgar Gabrielyan, owner and general manager of The 1 and Only Insurance, in his office on Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, plays a video he had posted to Facebook in which he said Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, owed Armenians an apology. Oz had posted a video to social media, which was shot at the Van Nuys shopping center where Gabrielyan\u2019s office is located, alleging rampant health care fraud in the surrounding neighborhood. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Eddie<\/p>\n

Eddie Akhparian, real estate broker, stands in the empty lobby of his offices in Van Nuys, CA, on Monday, February 2, 2026. Akhparian says his business is down 20% since Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, posted a video, filmed at the Van Nuys shopping center where his office is located, alleging health care fraud in the surrounding neighborhood. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Dr.<\/p>\n

Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, posted a video to social media, which was filmed at this Van Nuys shopping center, alleging rampant health care fraud in the surrounding neighborhood. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Dr.<\/p>\n

Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, recently posted a video to social media, which was filmed at this Van Nuys shopping center, alleging rampant health care fraud in the surrounding neighborhood. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Burbank<\/p>\n

Burbank resident Anna Khachatryan traveled to Van Nuys to shop at the Sherman Way Marketplace on Monday, February 2, 2026. Khachatryan wanted to support the market, which reportedly lost business after Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, posted a video to social media, which was filmed at the shopping center where the market is located, alleging rampant health care fraud in the surrounding neighborhood. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Centers<\/p>\n

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz listens as President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in this Oct. 16, 2025, file photo. (AP Photo\/Alex Brandon, File)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 6<\/p>\n

Edgar Gabrielyan, owner and general manager of The 1 and Only Insurance, in his office on Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, plays a video he had posted to Facebook in which he said Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, owed Armenians an apology. Oz had posted a video to social media, which was shot at the Van Nuys shopping center where Gabrielyan\u2019s office is located, alleging rampant health care fraud in the surrounding neighborhood. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear if customers and clients are staying\u00a0away due to fears that the surrounding businesses are somehow associated with fraud.<\/p>\n

Or if it\u2019s out of concerns that federal immigration agents may soon have a surging presence in the area, as they did in Minnesota after President Donald Trump announced a crackdown on alleged fraud at day care centers run by Somali residents there.<\/p>\n

Or there could be other reasons.<\/p>\n

What is clear, the business owners said, is that they\u2019re paying\u00a0the price.<\/p>\n

Akhparian, a broker, moved into the shopping center at Victory Boulevard and Mammoth Avenue in the mid-1980s. The co-owner of Trimax Elite Corp. and Trimax Credit Repair, companies that provide real estate services and credit consultancy, Akhparian said the lobby of his office usually has clients waiting to be seen. But the foot traffic has slowed, he said, as he led a reporter and photographer from the Southern California News Group through his empty office around noon on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople aren\u2019t coming,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople are scared.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the end of that work week, Akhparian\u2019s situation had worsened.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn a daily basis we usually get 15 to 20 clients,\u201d he said on Friday. \u201cRight now, it\u2019s down to 4 or 5. It\u2019s hard to make a living.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edgar Gabrielyan, owner and general manager of The 1 & Only Insurance Services, reported a similar loss in foot traffic. He posted a video on Facebook<\/a>, saying Oz owed all Armenians an apology.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe (Oz) just came and, like, cursed the shopping center, and he just walked away,\u201d Gabrielyan said.<\/p>\n

As a father, homeowner and small business owner, Gabrielyan spoke of his financial responsibilities \u2014 and not only to his own family, but to three employees and their families, whose livelihoods depend on the paychecks from him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m angry,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m frustrated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Akhparian and Gabrielyan said the shopping center\u2019s parking lot is usually full. But on Monday, the lot \u2014 with three to four dozen parking spots \u2014\u00a0was about one-third empty.<\/p>\n

They attributed the lighter foot traffic to\u00a0the video<\/a> that Oz, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, posted on social media.<\/p>\n

In it, Oz was driven around the neighborhood in a vehicle. He said 42 hospices are registered within a four-block stretch of that area, as he raised the possibility of fraud.<\/p>\n

He then stood outside the shopping center and pointed toward a building unit on the second floor, identifying it as a hospice center and saying that $3.5 billion in fraud involving hospices and home health care businesses had been uncovered in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

Oz said \u201cquite a bit\u201d of the alleged fraudulent activities are run by \u201cthe Russian Armenian mafia.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou notice the lettering and language behind me is of that dialect,\u201d he said as the camera zoomed in on a sign for a bakery selling lavash, a popular flatbread in Armenian culture.<\/p>\n

The video drew swift condemnation from local community members and some elected officials from California, with many, such as Rep. Laura Friedman<\/a>, accusing Oz of ethnic profiling. Friedman is a Democrat from Glendale, home to a large Armenian population.<\/p>\n

Also critical was Los Angeles City Councilmember Adrin Nazarian, whose family members survived the Armenian genocide<\/a>. The council member called Oz\u2019s video \u201cblatant racism.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy the focus on Armenian and Cyrillic languages?\u201d Nazarian said in a video uploaded to YouTube. \u201cWhy zoom in on Armenian businesses? Couldn\u2019t the point about one fraud case have been made without dragging an entire community into it.<\/p>\n

\u201cUs Armenians know exactly what this is when we see it; it\u2019s propaganda,\u201d Nazarian added.<\/p>\n

Oz, who is of Turkish descent, was born in the U.S., but his dual citizenship and his previous service in the Turkish military were used as attack points by his opponents<\/a> during his failed run for a Pennsylvania U.S. Senate seat in 2022. His opponents criticize his ties to Turkey since the Turkish government does not recognize the Armenian genocide that took place in the early 1900s.<\/p>\n

Gov. Gavin Newsom<\/a>\u2018s office has filed a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and called for an investigation following Oz\u2019s video. In its letter, Newsom\u2019s office accused Oz of spewing \u201cbaseless and racially charged allegations targeting the Armenian community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Responding to the announcement by the governor\u2019s office that it was reviewing reports that Oz had targeted the Armenian American community, Oz said on X<\/a>: \u201cIf there were a real defense for California\u2019s fraud crisis, we\u2019d hear it. CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) and law enforcement will keep doing the actual work: going after fraudsters, period.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neither the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services nor the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees Oz\u2019s agency, responded to a request for additional comment for this article.<\/p>\n

To be sure, California has had its share of health care fraud, but Newsom and other elected officials insist the state was addressing the problem long before the Trump administration got involved.<\/p>\n

Following a 2020 Los Angeles Times investigation<\/a> about fraud among hospice providers, Newsom signed a bill<\/a> that, since 2022, has placed a moratorium on new hospice licenses in the state. That ban is in effect through the end of this year.<\/p>\n

In addition, the California Department of Public Health revoked the licenses of more than 280 hospices<\/a> over the past two years and has identified about 300 more hospices under review for possible license revocation, according to the governor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the arrests of seven people accused of hospice fraud in Monterey County. The case, he said, demonstrates that claims that California isn\u2019t doing anything to address fraud are untrue.<\/p>\n

\u201cFighting fraud is part of our regular, ongoing work, and over time we have built real expertise in identifying abuse, holding bad actors accountable, and recovering taxpayer dollars,\u201d Bonta said in a statement. \u201cTo suggest otherwise is just wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, back at the shopping center in Van Nuys, while some customers have stayed away after the Oz video, others have gone out of their way to support a small food market that opened in that location late last year.<\/p>\n

Anna Khachatryan made a point of driving from nearby Burbank, where she lives, to shop at Sherman Way Marketplace earlier this week.<\/p>\n

Khachatryan, who is Armenian American, and her husband walked out of\u00a0there with ice cream and a pack of lavash. She said she wanted to support the business, whose owner told KABC Channel 7<\/a> in the days right after the Oz video came out that his store had seen about a 30% drop in customer traffic in a single day. (The store owner, who also owns the bakery whose business sign was featured in Oz\u2019s video, declined further comment on Thursday.)<\/p>\n

And what about the other business owners?<\/p>\n

Akhparian, of Trimax, is still upset that\u00a0Oz used the term \u201cRussian Armenian mafia\u201d while filming a video that showed his business and others in the shopping center, calling the association unfounded.<\/p>\n

\u201cMafia? What mafia? Where\u2019s my gun?\u201d Akhparian asked while patting himself down and feigning to be in search of a weapon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not a mafia,\u201d he said. \u201cIt bothers me a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Staff writer Jason Henry contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

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