GREENBELT, MD — Edward T. Buford III, age 70, of Silver Spring, Maryland, pleaded guilty on May 4, 2022, to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and healthcare fraud. As part of his guilty plea, Buford will be required to pay $1,267,630 in restitution.
The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Wayne Jacobs of the Federal Bureau of Investigation – Washington Field Office Criminal Division; Special Agent in Charge Maureen Dixon, Office of Investigations, Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services; Special Agent in Charge Michael McGill of the Social Security Administration – Office of Inspector General, Philadelphia Field Division; and Daniel W. Lucas, Inspector General for the District of Columbia.
According to his guilty plea, from January 2013 to May 2018, Buford and others devised and executed a scheme to defraud Medicaid for the District of Columbia by filing fraudulent Medicaid claims for dental services to Medicaid beneficiaries, receiving the fraudulently obtained funds from Medicaid, and recruiting Medicaid beneficiaries to fuel the scheme through the payment of kickbacks and bribes.
Source: Dentist Pleads Guilty to Unlawfully Obtaining Medicaid Funds and Kickbacks / MyChesCo