Couple convicted in $18M COVID relief scam now on the run

LOS ANGELES – A Los Angeles couple who were convicted of helping steal $18 million in COVID-19 relief funds are on the lam after cutting off their ankle monitors, the FBI said.

Richard Ayvazyan, 43, and his wife, Marietta Terabelian, 37, are considered fugitives, an FBI tweet said Tuesday.

The couple, Ayvazyan’s brother and a Glendale, California, man were convicted in June of scheming to submit phony loan applications for federal COVID-19 business relief funds.

They were scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 4 and were potentially facing decades in federal prison.

Four other people had pleaded guilty to various charges in what prosecutors said was a scheme that involved using fake or stolen identities to apply for loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration to help businesses struggling because of the COVID-19 pandemic.