Sarian Files Lawsuit against Aramais Paronyan, Faisal Gill Alleging Extortion, Takeover.
An amended complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court alleges death threats, an armed-guard lockout during Sarian’s mother’s funeral, and diversion of hospital insurance funds by a minority shareholder and the former in-house counsel.LOS ANGELES — June 26, 2026 — In May 2026, a Las Vegas court granted an injunction blocking Aramais Paronyan, a minority shareholder of AHS, and Faisal Gill AHS’s in-house counsel and Sarian’s former confidant and personal legal counsel, from removing AHS founder, CEO Mike Sarian, as chief executive and restored his control of the AHS hospitals. This ruling is preliminary, and broader disputes remain pending in multiple states.
This week, Mike Sarian, founder, chairman, and CEO of American Healthcare Systems Corp. (AHS), along with AHS, has filed a First Amended Complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court. The complaint alleges that a minority shareholder Aramais Paronyan and the company’s former in-house counsel Faisal Gill orchestrated a coordinated extortion and takeover scheme to seize control of AHS. Filed June 23, 2026 (Sarian et al. v. Paronyan, et al., Case No. 26STCV05675), the complaint asserts claim against Aramais Paronyan and Faisal Gill for civil extortion, assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, breach of contract, and breach of fiduciary duty.
The complaint states, Gill served as AHS’s in-house counsel, corporate secretary, and a member of its board of directors. Gill now controls the separate HSA hospital network, including its Florida hospitals (HSA Florida) — which Sarian founded and maintains he still owns, and which he contends the defendants took as part of the same coercive scheme. HSA Florida, now under Gill’s control, has separately sued Sarian in Miami — a suit Sarian characterizes as a retaliatory extension of the same campaign. Sarian also founded Healthcare Systems of America and NOR Healthcare Systems.
According to the complaint, in May 2026, a Las Vegas court granted an injunction blocking the defendants from removing Sarian as chief executive and restored his control of the AHS hospitals. This ruling is preliminary, and broader disputes remain pending in multiple states.
The complaint alleges that Paronyan, a 49% shareholder who reportedly had no operational role at AHS but received over $10 million in compensation and distributions, attempted to force Sarian to relinquish control of the company by escalating his threats. It claims Paronyan detained/imprisoned/blocked Sarian in the latter’s office and said, “You’re not going to leave this office alive,” and later told Sarian’s wife he would “sell his case to Chechens” who would kill Sarian. The complaint states these and related threats were reported to the Glendale Police Department, which it says is investigating.
The complaint further alleges that over the weekend of Sarian’s mother’s funeral in February 2026, the defendants staged a coup: Gill flew unannounced from Florida to deliver Paronyan’s demands; armed security personnel originally hired to protect Sarian instead confined Sarian and his wife within their own offices; Gill told responding police officers that he, not Sarian, was the CEO and that Sarian was trespassing — seemingly a false claim by Paronyan; and the defendants then cut off Sarian’s access to company email and systems for nearly a month.
The complaint also alleges that Paronyan has a documented history of healthcare fraud. It cites his 1998 arrest by the FBI for an alleged Medi-Cal fraud scheme and a 2004 settlement in which he and his wife, as owners of a clinical laboratory, agreed to pay $10 million to the federal government over allegations the laboratory billed for tests not ordered by physicians.
Financially, the complaint alleges that after a March 2026 agreement restored Sarian’s control of the AHS hospitals, the defendants diverted insurance payments owed to AHS’s Randolph Health hospital by rerouting funds through an out-of-state account set up by Gill’s stepson, Jonathan Burket, chief compliance officer of AHS. It alleges that of more than $2.45 million diverted over about six weeks, only $493,000 was returned, leaving approximately $1.96 million outstanding. The complaint also alleges the defendants caused AHS to take on a $3.75 million high-interest loan from Altbanq, with total repayment of about $4.65 million, then swept the $3.65 million in proceeds into HAS that is under Paronyan and Gill’s control. Mike Sarian says he never gave a personal guaranty nor authorized the loan.
“I built these hospitals over decades, and I have done everything in my power to protect them, the patients and employees who depend on them, and my family,” Sarian said. “These allegations are now before the courts, and I am confident the facts and the records will speak for themselves.”
The complaint seeks compensatory and punitive damages, restitution, disgorgement, a constructive trust, and an accounting. (Disgorgement is the legal act of forcing a wrongdoer to give up ill-gotten profits from illegal or wrongful conduct). The plaintiffs are represented by Mark Mermelstein and Joel Athey of Holmes, Athey, Cowan & Mermelstein.
The defendants deny the allegations and are represented by Geragos & Geragos. No court has ruled on the merits of these claims, and the allegations remain unproven.
About American Healthcare Systems Corp.:American Healthcare Systems Corp., Inc., is a Glendale, California-based healthcare management company focused on hospital operations, access to care, and community health improvement.