LOS ANGELES—A Los Angeles couple who fled to Europe after being convicted of running a fraud ring that stole $18 million in COVID-19 aid money were returned to the United States to face prison, authorities announced Friday.
Richard Ayvazyan and his wife, Marietta Terabelian, were extradited from the Balkan country of Montenegro, where they were living in a luxury seaside villa before their arrest in February.
They arrived in Los Angeles on Thursday, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
While they were on the run last year, a court in Los Angeles sentenced Ayvazyan to 17 years in federal prison, and Terabelian to six years….