Glendale Man Pleads Guilty to $1.9 Million COVID Relief Loan Fraud
LOS ANGELES — A Glendale, California man, Sarkis Garadzhyan, pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy to commit bank fraud for submitting more than $1.9 million in fraudulent claims for COVID-19 pandemic relief funds.
According to the plea agreement, from 2020 through April 2021, Garadzhyan and co-conspirators created multiple fake businesses, including Arizona Hospice Inc., falsely reporting payroll and submitting forged tax documents to fraudulently obtain federal pandemic relief funds.
The investigation found that they obtained:
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A $150,000 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL)
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A $929,433 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan
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An additional $842,666 PPP loan in the name of Arizona Hospice, later frozen by Bank of America due to suspected fraud
Although aware the funds were obtained fraudulently, Garadzhyan attempted to convince the bank to release the money, falsely claiming it was for payroll, when in fact the company had no employees.
U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald scheduled sentencing for March 2, 2026, at which time Garadzhyan could face a maximum of 30 years in prison.
The case is jointly investigated by the IRS Criminal Investigation Los Angeles Field Office, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General. IRS-CI investigates financial crimes including tax fraud, money laundering, and identity theft, with a federal conviction rate of 90%.
