Ambulance Company Owner Charged with COVID-19 Relief Fraud

An ambulance transporting a patient is reflected in the window of another ambulance in Los Angeles, in a file photo. David McNew/Getty Images

SANTA ANA, Calif.—The owner of a Riverside-based ambulance company was charged in a superseding indictment returned May 22 with wire fraud and money laundering related to COVID-19 relief.

Mehrdad “Mitch” Tabrizi of Aliso Viejo was accused of submitting two applications for $695,565 in loans from the federal government for his Life Fleet Inc. company from May 2020 to December 2021, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Mr. Tabrizi allegedly claimed the non-emergency ambulatory company had 54 employees and monthly payroll of $139,313, but he spent the money on personal expenses, prosecutors said.