Categorizing Fraudsters | Pennsylvania | Covid-19 and Medicaid Fraud

There are numerous ways to categorize people into two groups. For instance, those who make life easy or those who make life hard. Those who want to work or those who don’t. Those who think there are only two types of people and those who don’t! And there are law abiding citizens or money grabbing fraudsters – like Zaven Yegiazaryan, scheming to defraud not only from the pandemic loan relief program and the unemployment program but also the Medicaid program too.

Using shell companies and false identities, Yegiazaryan first targeted the two biggest government relief programs offered during the Covid-19 pandemic: the Small Business Administration’s loan relief program and the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program. Between April 2020 and August 2020, Yegiazaryan submitted false Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) applications on behalf of his shell companies with applications that falsely claimed business activity and inflated financial figures. In one of the applications, it was reported Yegiazaryan had several hundred thousand dollars in revenue and twelve employees. Yet Yeghiazaryan’s business actually did not have any employees and only had revenues of a few thousand dollars. As a result of his fraudulent claims, Yegiazaryan received $216,000 in federal relief funds.  

Concurrently, Yeghiazaryan was also filing fraudulent unemployment benefit applications using stolen identities of people who were not eligible for benefits. The scheme reportedly resulted in the fraudulent distribution of over $100,000 in unemployment benefits. All the while, Yegiazaryan apparently provided advice to co-conspirators on how to conceal funds with financial transactions designed to disguise the origins of the money in a Medicaid scheme.

On May 23, 2025, Yegiazaryan pleaded guilty to conspiracy, health care fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. He faces two hundred and thirty years in prison.

Great job by the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force in this case.

Today’s Fraud of The Day is based on article “Pandemic Relief Betrayed: Newtown Man Admits to Multi-Million Fraud” published by MSN News on May 23, 2025.

Zaven Yeghiazaryan, 44, of Newtown, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to 13 federal charges on Tuesday, including conspiracy, health care fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. The plea, entered before U.S. District Judge Gerald J. Pappert, exposes Yeghiazaryan to a maximum sentence of 230 years in prison, plus significant financial penalties. Sentencing is set for September 4, 2025.

Yeghiazaryan’s guilty plea underscores continuous efforts by law enforcement to hold individuals accountable for exploiting public resources.