Imperial County dentist and former office manager plead guilty to Medicare fraud
SAN DIEGO (KYMA, KECY) - An Imperial County dentist and a former office manager have pleaded guilty to Medicare fraud totaling millions of dollars.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) said 50-year-old doctor Javad Aghaloo, better known as “Dr. J,” pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday.
45-year-old Officer Manager Theresa Flores entered the same plea.
The doctor agreed to give up more than $1 million in property.
He will also pay more than $8 million in restitution.
The DOJ said they billed Medicare for procedures not covered, not performed, or not necessary.
Usually, it was for tooth extractions.
According to court records, Aghaloo and others recruited Medicare beneficiaries to get dental work done at one of his offices.
The DOJ said both Aghaloo and Flores marketed dental services to people in Imperial County as being covered by Medicare and knew this was not true since Medicare does not cover dental services.
When a Medicare beneficiary was in one of Aghaloo's offices, he and others would perform a type of procedure and submit false claims to Medicare using the person's beneficiary number, said the DOJ.
Aghaloo's offices would submit false claims for procedures like bone grafts that were never performed since tooth extractions are not covered by Medicare.
According to the DOJ, between March 1, 2016, and October 18, 2018, Aghaloo and Flores caused Aghaloo's dental offices to submit over 7,000 false claims to Medicare.
This totaled over $18 million where Aghaloo's offices were paid $8,476,466.23 by Medicare, said the DOJ.
Both Aghaloo and Flores are facing up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000.
Sentencing is scheduled for next January.
