Dead men don’t talk, but apparently, a deceased dentist in New Jersey performed a wide variety of dental procedures and earned a lot of money from the government in the process. Today ‘s “Fraud of the Day” examines a case about a dentist who assumed the identity of a dead dentist after having his own license revoked.
The living dentist had his license temporarily revoked due to billing concerns, but continued to run the practice for another seven years despite being told he could not bill Medicaid for his services. Eventually, his license to practice dentistry was permanently revoked after investigators discovered that he had continued to fraudulently bill Medicaid.
The living dentist worked out of four dental offices, the same ones where the deceased dentist had previously worked. (The living dentist assumed the identity of the deceased dentist and kept on submitting false bills to Medicaid under the dead man ‘s name and medical license number.)
The dentist was arrested due to a tip which stated the dentist was still practicing even though he’d lost his license. (Further research revealed that the relationships between the two dentists, as well as the owners of the dental offices, is still being investigated. I’m sure someone knows something somewhere.)
The 58-year-old man was convicted of falsifying healthcare records and has already served nine months in prison for submitting bogus bills to Medicaid under the deceased dentist ‘s name. Now, he is required to pay a $1.1 million fine and is not allowed to participate in any federal healthcare programs for 50 years, supposedly one of the longest bans ever imposed on a crime such as this one. (Fifty years ought to do it.)
The dead dentist certainly wasn’t talking in this case, but the defrauding dentist ‘s actions spoke louder than words. The government has finally stopped this criminal who went to great lengths to defraud the Medicaid program, effectively putting him out of business forever.
Source: Today’s “Fraud of the Day” is based on an article entitled, “Dentist who posed as dead colleague fined $1M by Inspector General,” posted on NJ.com on January 23, 2017.
A 58-year-old Short Hills man who officials said assumed the identity of another dentist after he lost his own license must pay a $1.1 million fine for submitting false bills to Medicaid.
In addition to the fine, Roben Brookhim has agreed to a 50-year exclusion for participating in any federal health care programs, according to the Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
