California blood test lab owner pleads guilty to $11.2 Million tax evasion in Medicare fraud

CALIFORNIA – The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced August 29 that a California man pleaded guilty to $11.2 million in tax evasion and $100,000 in COVID-19 relief fraud using his blood-testing company, Genex Laboratories.

Armen Muradyan, 60, of Burbank, pleaded guilty to health care fraud, wire fraud, and tax evasion.

Genex Laboratories received millions in Medicare reimbursements. Reimbursements were sent to “L.S.,” Muradyan’s longtime friend, who was paid $2,000 monthly to pose as Genex’s owner.

Muradyan instructed L.S. to submit Medicare enrollment papers since he was banned from submitting claims and controlled Genex bank accounts in L.S.’s name.

L.S. neither owned nor operated Genex, only collected the $2,000 monthly payments and signed documents as directed.

Muradyan used the fraud proceeds to pay his property mortgage.

Muradyan’s unreported income totaled about $23.9 million

From 2015 – 2020, Muradyan had L.S. report Genex’s finances on his personal tax returns, claiming minimal profit to reduce taxes.

During that time, Muradyan’s tax returns hid Genex’s income, reporting an average annual income of $40,000. Muradyan personally used millions in Medicare reimbursements to fund his lavish lifestyle.

He also failed to file tax returns for 2021 – 2022.

Muradyan’s unreported income totaled about $23.9 million, resulting in $11.2 million in federal taxes owed.

Muradyan faces up to 20 years in prison

In July 2020, Muradyan submitted a fraudulent EIDL application. He falsely claimed GenMed had multiple employees and $800,000 in 2019 income. In reality, GenMed had no employees and zero income that year.

The SBA sent $99,900 to Muradyan, who spent it on personal expenses prohibited by EIDL.

Sentencing is set for December 11, with maximum penalties of 20 years for wire fraud, 10 years for health care fraud, and 5 years for tax evasion.

Muradyan is free on a $2.6 million bond.