SAN DIEGO – Dr. Javad Aghaloo, an Imperial County dentist, and Theresa Flores, his office manager, pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday, admitting that they conspired to defraud Medicare and cover it up.
Aghaloo entered a guilty plea to conspiring to commit health care fraud by billing Medicare for procedures that were not covered, not performed, or otherwise not necessary. As part of his plea, Aghaloo agreed to forfeit more than $1 million in property and pay restitution to Medicare in the amount of $8,476,466.23. Flores entered a guilty plea to obstructing a Medicare audit.
According to court records, Aghaloo and others recruited Medicare beneficiaries to get dental work done at one of Aghaloo’s offices. To recruit Medicare patients, Aghaloo and Flores marketed dental services to individuals in Imperial County as being covered by Medicare. Aghaloo and Flores knew this was untrue since Medicare does not cover dental services.
Source: IC dentist and manager plead guilty to multi-million dollar fraud / The Desert Review