An Encino real estate broker was sentenced Monday to more than 10 years in prison for her role in a family fraud ring that stole $18 million in emergency pandemic loans largely through fake businesses in the San Fernando Valley.
Tamara Dadyan, 42, is one of eight convicted conspirators in the scam that was led by her brother-in-law, Richard Ayvazyan. Ayvazyan and his wife, who bought a $3.25 million house in Tarzana with proceeds from the loan scam, were convicted at a trial in June, but fled after slicing off their ankle monitoring bracelets. Ayvazyan was sentenced in absentia last month to 17 years in prison and his wife to six years.
The group filed 151 fraudulent applications for loans that were supposed to keep small businesses nationwide from collapsing during the initial lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic, prosecutors say.
Lamenting the “brazenness” of Dadyan’s crimes, U.S. District Court Judge Stephen V. Wilson said her “total disregard for the law” was extraordinary. He found that she played an important role in assisting Ayvazyan. The judge mentioned text messages the pair exchanged as they rushed to submit loan applications — including some in the name of dead people — before the taxpayer bailout ran out of money.
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