A suspect who was convicted at trial of conspiracy to commit six counts of health care fraud and six counts of aggravated identity theft has been sentenced to serve 121 months in prison.

Vahe Tahmasian, 36, of Glendale, was found guilty by a federal jury on March 21 for his role in a $1.5 million Medicare fraud and identity theft scheme. In addition to the prison term, he was sentenced to serve three years of supervised release and ordered to pay approximately $994,000 in restitution to the Medicare program.

The evidence presented at trial showed that between April 2009 and February 2011, Tahmasian operated a Medicare fraud scheme at Orthomed Appliance Inc., a durable medical equipment supply company in West Hollywood. Tahmasian and his co-conspirator, Eric Mkhitarian, purchased Orthomed from the previous owners and put the company in the name of a “straw” owner. The defendant and his co-conspirator then stole the personal identifying information of Medicare beneficiaries and doctors in the company’s patient files, and used that information to submit a large volume of fraudulent claims to Medicare, according to the Unites States Attorney’s Office, Central District of California.

The evidence also showed that during a three-month period in late 2010, Tahmasian submitted more than $1.2 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare for services that were never prescribed by a physician and were never provided to the Medicare beneficiaries. Tahmasian and his co-conspirator then took out more than $622,000 in cash from the company over a six-week period in early 2011. Additionally, the evidence also showed that Tahmasian used a fake California driver’s license to further the fraud scheme.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Los Angeles Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. It was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which was created in 2007 and is operating in nine cities throughout the country. More than 1,900 defendants, who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $6 billion, have been charged through the task force’s investigations. For information about health care fraud prevention, visit www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.