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Kambiz Merabi, owner of the Van Nuys Morabi Professional Medical Plaza (see above), told CBS News that Medicare officials visited his building two years ago to look at hospice agencies. He told the outlet that, “in his view,” the businesses appear to be “legitimate.”

The Van Nuys Morabi Professional Medical Plaza became notorious for listing nearly 90–150 plus “licensed hospice agencies”..... far exceeding the buildings physical capacity.

CBS News noted that several of the hospice companies registered to Merabi Professional Medical Plaza had been billing Medicare “for years.”

Kambiz Merabi, the owner of the plaza, says “in his view,” the businesses appear to be “legitimate”........

Huh? Is Merabi that stupid?

Morabi’s several Instagram videos seem to “invite fraudster rentals,” saying he specializes in “virtual offices”.......meaning renters can pay to use his building just as their address.

However, hospices are required by federal law to have a physical office.

The revelations about the Merabi Professional Medical Plaza come amid the Trump administration’s renewed focus on fraud.

kwtx.com
By Laura Geller, Adam Yamaguchi,
Rachel Gold, Graham Kates
Mar. 23, 2026

Official State records show 89 hospice companies
at Los Angeles’ Merabi Professional Medical Plaza

(CBS News) - The Merabi Professional Medical Plaza, a small three-story,
32,000 square foot stucco and glass office building in LA, rents space to
<><>a hair salon, a law office,
<><>a modeling agency, a realty corporation
<><>and 89 licensed hospice companies.
<><>this adds up to more rental space than actually exists

The Merabi building is among the most extreme cases of “clustering” —
a grouping of large numbers of hospices considered a major red flag for potential fraud.
<><>The Van Nuys address, “Merabi Plaza”
<><>appears dozens of times in official state records for “licensed hospice companies.”
<><>Merabi’s building directory lining hallways lists numerous hospice agencies.
<><>landlord Merabi says he himself lists only 12 hospice agency rentals.

Taxpayers would be interested to know how Merabi handled the discrepancy on his tax return,

Auditors said the Merabi building clustering of so many firms raised concerns because it suggests that “the number of agencies in these areas likely exceeds the number of patients who need services.”

Concerns about clustering appear in a 2022 California State Auditor’s report, which found that Los Angeles County had experienced a 1,500% increase in hospice companies countywide since 2010. That’s six times more hospice providers than the national average, relative to the county’s elderly population.

Auditors said other warning signs for potential fraud include
<><>multiple hospices in one building,
<><>geographic clustering,
<><>low patient counts,
<><>high rates of terminally ill patients later discharged alive,
<><>excessive billing
<><>and staff shared across multiple companies.

CBS News found that 72 of the 89 registered hospices in Merabi Plaza have at least three of the six potential warning signs.

CBS News wasn’t the first to visit the Merabi building with questions. Federal records show govt regulators visited multiple suites in Merabi Plaza between 2021 and 2025. They found nearly 400 violations at 75 companies, those records show.
<><>One inspection cited a nurse who reported that a patient’s family was satisfied with care,
<><>this despite indications that no one from the hospice ever visited that patient.
<><>a look at a patient’s chart listed medications for malaria and diabetes.
<><>The patient told inspectors he wasn’t taking either drug.
<><>At that same hospice, a social worker wrote about a family’s grief over a loved one passing,
<><>but reporters found no evidence the patient was actually dead.

Many of the hospice companies in Marabi Plaza have been billing Medicare for years and collecting reimbursements that come from federal tax dollars. On a recent visit, CBS News encountered the landlord, Kambiz Merabi. He said officials from Medicare came there two years ago specifically looking for hospice agencies. Merabi said the businesses appear to be legitimate – noting that his rental tenants are required to provide standard documentation that shows they are valid.

“I’m not a police or keeper of what they do, how they do business,” Merabi glibly said. Merabi was not forthcoming about how he handled the discrepancy on his tax returns.

Merabi said the numbers that appear in government records differ from those on his tenant list. He shows only 12 hospice companies operating in his building. Merabi explained that a number of the agencies had recently “moved.” Public records don’t yet reflect that, and hospices are required to notify authorities if they move.

Advocates say the discrepancy raises questions about what they call “ghost hospices.” Those are paper companies that bill the taxpayers for patients, and pocket massive amounts of tax dollars even if they don’t actually provide any real care.