Navasard Petrosyan, the former publisher of six Glendale-based magazines, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for laundering funds for companies allegedly involved in Medicare and Medicaid fraud.
Petrosyan pleaded guilty to making false statements and conspiracy for claiming $3 million gained from doctors and medical firms as advertising revenues between 2002 and 2007, according to the IRS.
Petrosyan cashed checks for others, took a fee and returned the rest to the companies writing the checks, according to the IRS. The companies deducted the advertising expenses on their tax forms and then failed to report that they received the cash.
The money then was used by the medical firms to pay patients for bringing in business and to pay referral fees to others, according to the criminal complaint.
Petrosyan worked with Andronik Petrosian, who in 2008 was sentenced to eight years in prison on a related case, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Bruce Searby, who prosecuted the case.
Petrosyan owned the Armenian-language publications Rainbow Magazine, Kroonk Magazine, Health and Beauty Magazine, Avangard Weekly, TV Time and Muse Magazine, according to the IRS. Most of the publications listed a business address at 920 W. Glenoaks Ave.
Petrosyan was charged in June 2010 and pleaded guilty Aug. 12. His attorney, Frederic Warner, could not be reached for comment, Glendale News-Press reported.
