Houston dental clinic operator pleads guilty to $6 million Medicaid fraud scheme

HOUSTON, Texas — A 68-year-old man has admitted to orchestrating a $6 million Medicaid fraud scheme, according to U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani. Rene Gaviola, of Houston, Texas, was the operator of Floss Family Dental Care clinic, where he submitted fraudulent claims for pediatric dental services that were never provided.

From 2018 to April 2021, Gaviola acknowledged employing an unlicensed individual to practice dentistry on Medicaid-insured children. At times, he operated the clinic without any licensed dentists, yet billed Medicaid as if they had provided the services. Gaviola also confessed to paying kickbacks to marketers and caregivers to bring Medicaid-insured children to his clinic.

The fraud extended to laundering Medicaid funds from the clinic’s business account to his personal account, with several transactions exceeding $100,000. Between 2019 and 2021, the clinic billed Medicaid nearly $6.9 million in claims for pediatric dental services, of which Medicaid paid approximately $4.9 million.

Source: Houston dental clinic operator pleads guilty to $6 million Medicaid fraud scheme / My Texas Daily

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *