A Glendale man is set to be sentenced on March 2 after admitting to his role in a scheme that attempted to fraudulently obtain more than $1.9 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds. Sarkis Garadzhyan pleaded guilty Monday in Los Angeles federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, according to the Internal Revenue Service.
Prosecutors say Garadzhyan and several co-conspirators created and ran multiple fake businesses — including a company called Arizona Hospice Inc. — to apply for federal pandemic loan programs. The group allegedly claimed large payrolls for these nonexistent companies and supported their applications with forged tax documents.
“Mr. Garadzhyan deliberately stole from programs designed to keep American businesses afloat during a national emergency,” said Tyler Hatcher, special agent in charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in Los Angeles. “Such blatant abuse of taxpayer-funded relief will not be tolerated.”
Investigators say the group used stolen identities to secure a $150,000 Economic Injury Disaster Loan, a $929,433 Paycheck Protection Program loan, and another $842,666 PPP loan in the name of Arizona Hospice. Bank of America later froze the latter loan after detecting suspicious activity.
Despite knowing the money was obtained fraudulently, Garadzhyan allegedly tried to persuade the bank to release the frozen funds, falsely claiming they were needed for payroll even though the business had no employees.
Garadzhyan faces up to 30 years in federal prison when he is sentenced, prosecutors said.
