Two San Fernando Valley residents are awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to federal charges stemming from their roles in defrauding Medicare of nearly $16 million through sham hospice companies and laundering the illicit proceeds, according to court papers obtained Tuesday.

Karpis Srapyan, 35, and Susanna Harutyunyan, 39, both of Winnetka pleaded guilty to federal charges Monday in downtown Los Angeles, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

According to court documents, Srapyan and others, including co-defendants Petros Fichidzhyan and Juan Carlos Esparza, worked together to bill Medicare for hospice services that were not medically necessary and never provided.

To conduct the scheme, they used a series of four sham hospice companies: one owned by Esparza and the other three owned by foreign nationals but controlled by the defendants, court documents show. Srapyan and his co-defendants concealed the scheme by using foreign nationals’ personal identifying information to open bank accounts, submit information to Medicare and sign property leases, according to the DOJ.

They also misappropriated names and other identifying information of several doctors, two of whom were deceased, to fraudulently bill Medicare for purported hospice services. In total, Medicare paid the fake hospice companies nearly $16 million, the DOJ said.

Federal prosecutors said Harutyunyan was aware that her husband and co-defendant Mihran Panosyan was involved in illegal activity with Srapyan and Fichidzhyan. As part of the money laundering scheme, Harutyunyan and her co-defendants maintained fraudulent identification documents, bank documents, checkbooks, and credit and debit cards in the names of purported foreign owners in the residence where she and Panosyan lived and another residence that was owned in her name, according to the DOJ.

Srapyan conducted dozens of financial transactions, totaling nearly $3.2 million, moving funds between accounts in the names of the sham hospice companies, accounts in the names of foreign nationals that were controlled by the defendants, and other accounts involved in the money laundering scheme. The DOJ said Harutyunyan spent fraudulent proceeds on personal expenses, including payments for a BMW automobile.

Srapyan pleaded guilty in Los Angeles federal court to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and money laundering and is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 6. Harutyunyan pleaded guilty to money laundering and is set for sentencing on Nov. 17. She faces deportation, the DOJ said.

Co-defendant Fichidzhyan previously pleaded guilty to health care fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering. In May, he was sentenced to a dozen years in federal prison. Panosyan pleaded guilty to money laundering in June and is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 8. Esparza is expected to plead guilty to federal charges on July 14.