Doctor sentenced to nine years in prison for role in Glendale clinic fraud case

A 49-year-old doctor who pre-signed thousands of blank prescription slips for a sham medical clinic in Glendale that defrauded Medicare and Medi-Cal of $9 million was sentenced Wednesday to nine years in federal prison for his role in the scam, officials said.

Kenneth Johnson, of Ladera Heights, was convicted in 2014 of fraudulently prescribing expensive antipsychotic medications, which were later used to generate $20 million in fraudulent billings to Medicare and Medi-Cal, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Operators of Manor Medical Imaging in Glendale employed an unlicensed medical practitioner, Nuritsa Grigoryan, of Glendale, to fill out the pre-signed prescription slips, and later billed and rebilled the government for the drugs.

Grigoryan, 51, reportedly fled the country after her conviction and remains a fugitive.

By manipulating files of patients who were recruited or whose identities were stolen, operators made it seem as though the patients — which included elderly and homeless people, as well as military veterans — were being legitimately treated.

After the prescriptions were filled, the drugs were sold on the black market and redistributed to pharmacies, where they’d be used in new claims filed with Medicare and Medi-Cal.

A judge called the scheme “particularly devious” because organizers targeted under-the-radar drugs to evade the attention of authorities, officials said.

Other leaders in the scam — including Tujunga siblings Lianna Ovsepian, 35, manager and owner of the clinic, and Artak Ovsepian, 34 — have also been convicted. The siblings were sentenced to eight years and 15 years, respectively, in prison.

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Alene Tchekmedyian, alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com

Twitter: @atchek