Richard Ayvazyan and Marietta Terabelian: The Couple Who Stole $20 Million in COVID Relief and Fled

In one of the largest COVID-19 relief fraud schemes in U.S. history, a California couple stole more than $20 million meant for struggling businesses — then vanished, leaving their three teenage children behind with a goodbye note.

Richard Ayvazyan and Marietta Terabelian ran a sophisticated operation out of the Los Angeles area. Using fake and stolen identities, they submitted roughly 150 fraudulent applications for Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loans. Most of the businesses listed on the paperwork didn’t exist. Within months, they had pocketed tens of millions in taxpayer money.

Luxury Spending and a Sudden Escape

The couple didn’t hide their new wealth. They bought gold coins, expensive jewelry, luxury watches, designer goods, and at least one house paid for largely in cash. Life looked good — until a federal jury convicted them in June 2021 of conspiracy, bank fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.

While awaiting sentencing and under court supervision, they made their move. They cut off their ankle monitors, left a note for their three teenage children promising they would return someday, and fled the country on fake passports. Their destination: Montenegro.

Caught by a Financial Mistake

For months the pair lived as fugitives. The FBI eventually tracked them through a financial error Ayvazyan made. In May 2022, authorities arrested them in Montenegro. They were extradited back to the United States later that year.

A judge had already sentenced them in absentia in November 2021 — Ayvazyan to 17 years in federal prison and Terabelian to six years. Those sentences stood once they returned to American custody.

The Human Cost

While their parents were on the run, the couple’s three children were raised by other family members. What began as a brazen cash grab during a national emergency ended with long prison terms, a shattered family, and a lasting example of how far some people were willing to go for pandemic relief money that never belonged to them.

The case remains one of the most striking examples of COVID-era fraud — a reminder that even the biggest schemes eventually leave a trail.

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