Three criminals on the FBI's most wanted list in a COVID-19 fraud scheme were detained in Montenegro. They have been searched since August 2021, when their relatives claimed they were kidnapped, but federal authorities said they turned off their location trackers and fled the state, according to NBC.
Federal authorities said Feb. 23 that three members of the San Fernando Valley family were detained in Montenegro, accused of removing their tracking bracelets and running away after they were convicted in $18 million COVID-19 fraud case.
Richard Ayvazyan, 43, his wife and co-defendant Marietta Terabelyan, 37, and his sister-in-law Tamara Dadyan, 42, were arrested on February 22 in a small mountainous country in southeastern Europe.
They have been missing since August 29 .
The three were among eight family members convicted of stealing more than $18 million in COVID relief loans and using the money for extravagant spending such as down payments on luxury homes, designer bags, clothes and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
It was not immediately clear how their extradition to the United States might end. The FBI had no immediate comment.
The strange story was like this from the start.
In November 2021, Ayvazyan and Terabelyan were sentenced in court despite a failure to appear, which their family says was due to their kidnapping, apparently to prevent them from revealing the identities of the uncharged accomplices, according to court documents.
The couple and two relatives were found guilty in June 2021 of conspiring to file fraudulent loan applications in which they and others received more than $18 million in paycheck protection and economic damage loan programs that they used to pay down payments for luxury homes. in Tarzan, Glendale and Palm Desert, as well as buying other high-end items such as gold coins, diamonds, jewelry, luxury watches, imported furniture, designer bags, clothing and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
Ayvazyan “harassed the elderly (including those with disabilities) and foreign exchange students who spent only a few months in the United States a few years ago and now live thousands of miles away in a foreign country,” prosecutors wrote.
The defendants were found guilty of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Ayvazyan was also found guilty of aggravated identity theft.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, a Los Angeles federal jury ruled that the defendants must confiscate bank accounts, jewelry, watches, gold coins, three houses, and about $450,000 in cash.
Evidence showed that the defendants used counterfeit or stolen personal data for fraudulent loan applications. In support of the allegations, the defendants also provided forged documents to creditors and the Small Business Administration, including forged identification documents, tax documents and payrolls, prosecutors said.
Before sentencing, four accomplices pleaded guilty to the felony charges.
However, the FBI said the couple, who face several years behind bars, removed their location tracking devices, left a note for their children, and escaped together from his home in Encino. The next day, a Los Angeles judge signed arrest warrants for them.
Ayvazian was sentenced in November to 17 years in federal prison and his wife to six years, according to US Attorney's Office. Ayvazyan was the alleged mastermind of the criminal gang.
