Richard Ayvazyan, 43, and Marietta Terabelian, 37, cut off their electronic monitoring bracelets as they awaited sentencing and fled, abandoning their three children. Photo / via FBI
A US couple facing prison over their role in an alleged Covid relief fraud ring have fled without a trace while awaiting sentencing.
Richard Ayvazyan, 43, and his wife Marietta Terabelian, 37, abandoned their three teenage children at their home in California, leaving nothing but a note behind.
"We will be together again one day," it read, according to Ayvazyan's lawyer. "This is not a goodbye but a brief break from each other."
The children are aged 13, 15 and 16.
The FBI have issued a wanted notice for the fugitives, who were convicted in June after prosecutors said they, along with others, launched a vast scheme to access more than US$20 million in relief funds intended for people in dire need during the pandemic.
The couple disappeared from California in August, but their sentencing hearing still went ahead this week.
Ayvazyan was sentenced to 17 years in prison, while Terabelian was sentenced to six years.
"The defendants used the Covid-19 crisis to steal millions of dollars in much-needed government aid intended for people and businesses suffering from the economic effects of the worst pandemic in a century," US lawyer Tracy L Wilkison said, per CNN.
The FBI is offering a US$20,000 reward for anyone with information that could lead to their arrest.
The duo, alongside Ayvazyan's brother Artur, 41, were found guilty of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, wire fraud and money laundering at their trial in June.
The prosecution said the group used a series of fake and stolen identities, including those of dead people, to submit fraudulent applications for around 150 federal pandemic relief loans.
According to prosecutors, the trio, alongside five co-conspirators, then used the funds to purchase mansions in Southern California, as well as gold coins, diamonds, furniture, luxury watches and a Harley Davidson motorcycle.
Ayvazyan's lawyer – who has not spoken to his client since he fled – said this week that the prosecution had exaggerated the details of the case.
"It should be noted that the government repeatedly touted this to be a $18 million or $20 million case, depending on the day and who was speaking," Ashwin J Ram told CNN.
"At the sentencing hearing, however, the court found that Richard Ayvazyan is only responsible for a loss amount in the range of US$1.5 million. That is a far cry from the government's theory of the case."
Ram also told the outlet that the couple's family has a theory they were abducted by other co-conspirators.
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