NoHo Woman Pleads Guilty to Medicare Fraud

By City News Service

A North Hollywood woman who ran a medical equipment supply company pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring to submit nearly $25 million in phony claims to Medicare.

Susanna Artsruni -- who used the names "Mary" and "Rose" -- faces up to 30 years in federal prison when she is sentenced on April 14, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

A second defendant in the case, Erasmus Kotey, a physician's assistant who worked with Artsruni in a medical clinic on North Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles, is scheduled to go on trial April 8.

Artsruni, 46, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Morrow to one count each of health care fraud and money laundering, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

In a plea agreement filed last year, Artsruni admitted, among other things, that she fraudulently billed Medicare on behalf of her own medical supply company, Midvalley Medical Supply in Van Nuys, for medically unnecessary services.

According to prosecutors, Artsruni caused almost $25 million in fraudulent claims to be submitted to Medicare, which paid more than $9.2 million on the bogus bills.