Woodland Hills Man Charged With Money Laundering

WOODLAND HILLS, CA — Seven San Fernando Valley residents who prosecutors say were involved in an eight figure money laundering scheme were arrested on Thursday. Federal authorities said the scheme laundered over $30 million in tax refunds obtained from about 7,000 fraudulent tax returns, which stole the identities of thousands of taxpayers.

Prosecutors named Gagik Airapetian as the ringleader, and said he instructed collaborators to use fake foreign passports to rent mailboxes and open bank accounts to launder money received from tax fraud and health care fraud. According to indictments, the group inserted their own photos over those of real passport holders, and used the passports to open over 500 bank accounts.

The defendants are Gagik Airapetian, 62, of Woodland Hills; Tigran Galstyan, 48, of Sylmar; Moses Seraydarian, 54, of Northridge; Stepan Terakopyan, 35, of Granada Hills; Petros Terakopyan, 64, of Sun Valley; Karen Pogosian, 49, of Van Nuys; and Haroutioun Demirdjian, 54, of North Hollywood.

Three more defendants are still at large, according to authorities.

Two additional defendants who were also arrested Thursday were charged with fraud. Prosecutors said Ara Sahakyan of Reseda ran a car leasing scam, while they claimed Armen Oganesian of Los Feliz ran a short sale scheme involving a $2 million home recently forfeited. A second defendant in the latter scam is believed to be a fugitive.

The arrests were part of a multi-agency investigation into a Stolen Identity Refund Fraud scheme, informally called Operation "SIRF's Up." Prosecutors said conspirators opened hundreds of bank accounts to launder money using fake identities with false passports from Armenia and other former Soviet Republic countries.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, 35 defendants have been charged in connection to the scheme, while 15 have been convicted.

Airapetian could face a maximum of over 400 years in federal prison if convicted of all charges. The other defendants charged with money laundering could face over 100 years in jail if convicted.