“This case of health care fraud involved millions and millions of dollars and if not for state and federal investigators, may never have been prosecuted.  They are the protectors of programs that are in place to assist people, these programs are not in place so unscrupulous health care professionals can line their bank accounts.” – CSLEA President Alan Barcelona.

LOS ANGELES – On June 2, 2021, Keyvan Amirikhorheh, M.D, 61, of Seal Beach pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud. According to court documents, Amirikhorheh worked as a physician at Los Angeles Community Clinic. Together with his co-defendants, Amirikhorheh defrauded the Family Planning, Access, Care and Treatment (Family PACT) program administered by Medi-Cal, the California Medicaid program, by submitting and causing the submission of fraudulent claims for family planning services, diagnostic testing, and prescriptions for non-existent patients.

Amirikhorheh is the final defendant in this case to plead guilty. Others include:

• Hilda Haroutunian, 61, of Sun Valley, pleaded guilty on Sept. 25, 2020, and is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 17;
• Lorraine Watson, 57, a physician’s assistant, of Valley Village, pleaded guilty on Oct. 9, 2020, and is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 10;
• Edmond Sarkisyan, 41, of North Hollywood, pleaded guilty on Jan. 29, and is scheduled to be sentenced on July 16;
• and Noem Sarkisyan, 65, of North Hollywood, pleaded guilty on March 5, 2020, and is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 3.

As alleged in court documents, between approximately March 2016 and April 2019, Los Angeles Community Clinic and associated laboratories and pharmacies submitted approximately $8,406,204 in claims to Medi-Cal and were paid approximately $6,660,028 as the result of this fraudulent scheme.

Amirikhorheh is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 1, and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

The FBI, Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General, and California Department of Justice are investigating the case, which was charged as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.