(WTNH) — Federal agents are conducting raids and serving search warrants in connection with a $20 million dental insurance fraud investigation.
Gary F. Anusavice, 59, also known as Gary Andrews, Gary Andrus and Gary Francis, and Mehran Zamani, DDS, 47, were arrested for their alleged involvement in a $20 million Medicaid fraud scheme.
http://liarcatchers.com/fraud_investigation.html
Both face charges of conspiring to commit health care fraud, committing health care fraud and making false statements involving federal health care programs.
“As alleged, these operators of dental practices throughout Connecticut defrauded the Medicaid program of more than $20 million over a two-year period,” said U.S. Attorney David Fein.
Anusavice was a registered dentist in several states until July 1997 when he sustained a felony conviction in Massachusetts for submitting false health care claims. In November 2005, he surrendered his right to practice dentistry in Rhode Island, and the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Dentistry permanently revoked his license to practice dentistry.
After this, Anusavice established several dental practices in Connecticut, which were operated by other dentists, including Zamani.
These dental practices received millions of dollars in Medicaid reimbursements from the Connecticut Medicaid program, which payments were prohibited given Anusavice’s exclusion from the Medicaid program.
The dental practices operated by the pair include Landmark Dental in West Haven, Dental Group of Connecticut in Trumbull, and Dental Group of Stamford.
On April 13, 2011, the DSS suspended Medicaid payments to Zamani based on a pending investigation of a credible allegation of fraud. By that time, Anusavice and Zamani had collectively received nearly $21 million in Medicaid reimbursement funds.
By then, Anusavice and another dentist are said to have begun operating a new set of dental clinics; Alpha Dental Group in Cromwell, Dental Group of New Britain, and Hartford Dental Care. He had recently reopened a dental practice at the former location of Dental Care of Connecticut in Trumbull.
After the pair were arrested, officers searched Anusavice’s home and his dental clinics in New Britain and Trumbull.
