Eleven defendants, including two foreign nationals, were arrested March 19 following a federal indictment for a scheme targeting elderly victims' identities. They allegedly stole this information to obtain title reports for properties and then solicited large loans from private lenders, claiming the loans were backed by the victims' properties.
The following defendants were arrested March 19, with all but two of them scheduled to be arraigned that afternoon in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles:
- Nazaret Chakrian, 65, a.k.a. “Niko,” of Hollywood
- Arnold Moradians, 57, a.k.a. “Julian,” of Hollywood, an Iranian national who has an outstanding warrant for removal from the United States
- Avetis Hekimyan, 38, a.k.a. “Chef Avo,” of North Hollywood
- Ross Tarkhan, 32, of Glendale
- Tigran Hovanesian, 56, of Glendale
- Armen Vardevaryan, 55, a.k.a. “Gonch,” of North Hollywood
- Craig Higdon, 66, of Naples, Fla., who will make his initial appearance in the Middle District of Florida
- Helen Spangler, 62, of Oakdale, Calif., who will make her initial appearance in the Eastern District of California
- Victor Lossi, 43, of Thousand Oaks
- Marine Sarkisian, 49, of Hollywood, an Azerbaijani national and green card holder
An additional defendant, Cynthia Borjas, 51, of Koreatown, was also arrested March 19 and was expected to be arraigned the following day in Los Angeles federal court.
All defendants except Hovanesian are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and seven counts of wire fraud. Chakrian, Moradians, Borjas, Hekimyan, Tarkhan, Spangler, Lossi and Sarkisian are charged with one count of aggravated identity theft. Chakrian, Moradians, Tarkhan and Hovanesian are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Tarkhan is further charged with five counts of money laundering.
Court documents indicate that from January 2021 to May 2023, Chakrian and Moradians fraudulently acquired the personal identifying information (PII) of elderly victims who owned properties in Santa Monica and various Los Angeles neighborhoods. They then used this PII to create fake identification documents, while Borjas and Hekimyan set up email accounts impersonating the victims.
Together, they are suspected of misrepresenting themselves to private money lenders as agents or relatives of the victims, submitting fraudulent applications for hard money loans tied to the victims' properties. They also allegedly created false documents, including bank statements and death certificates, that misrepresented the victims' identities and financial situations.
Chakrian, Hekimyan, Higdon, and Spangler allegedly had the fraudulent loan documents notarized and signed by individuals acting as the victims. Tarkhan added to the scheme by creating synthetic identities with stolen PII to open bank accounts that diverted the fraudulent proceeds. The total intended loss was around $17.4 million, with actual losses of about $6 million.
If convicted, the defendants would face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each fraud- and money laundering-related count, and a mandatory consecutive sentence of two years in federal prison for the aggravated identity theft count.
“The growing problem of title fraud victimizes homeowners and lenders, many of whom are elderly and have their identities stolen, in addition to their hard-earned money,” Akil Davis, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office, said in a press release. “An investigation by the FBI Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force, LAPD, and other law enforcement partners led to today's arrests of multiple perpetrators of this cruel scheme who now face lengthy prison sentences.”
This case is being investigated by the Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force (EOCTF) and the Los Angeles Police Department – Commercial Crimes Division. The EOCTF includes agents and task force officers from the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and the Glendale Police Department. Assistant United States Attorneys Claire Kelly of the general crimes section and Hava Mirell of the criminal appeals section are prosecuting this case.