Texas AG lawsuits spurred by WFAA dental investigation
Posted on June 26, 2012 at 12:38 PM
Updated today at 9:40 AM
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DALLAS - A year-long WFAA investigation into questionable Medicaid dental payments has resulted in the Texas Attorney General filing lawsuits this week.
Greg Abbott charges that a Dallas dentist and his corporate entities bilked taxpayers out of millions for fraudulent orthodontic work on poor families.
Dallas dentist Richard Malouf amassed a multi-million dollar mansion, corporate jets and luxury vehicles through his dentistry, News 8 has found.
He and his former firm, All Smiles, declared bankruptcy following a series of reports detailing how he and other dentists around Texas gamed the welfare system by billing for unnecessary dental work.
WFAA found that over the past few years, Texas has paid out more in Medicaid orthodontic claims than all other 49 states combined.
All Smiles billed Medicaid for at least $15 million over two years, which is twice as much as the entire state of Illinois. The Attorney General’s lawsuits, filed in Austin Monday, seek to recoup “two times the amount of the overpayments.”
WFAA’s findings have spurred outrage among lawmakers and hearings in Austin and Washington D.C.
Madelayne Castillo, a former All Smiles employee, and Dallas orthodontist Dr. Christine Ellis filed separate whistleblower lawsuits in April and May alleging fraud by Malouf and his corporations.
Both lawsuits remained sealed while the Attorney General’s office investigated the claims. On Monday, Abbott’s office joined those lawsuits by refiling them in the state's name.
In April, Dr. Ellis testified before the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee that Malouf and other dentists were responsible for “flagrancy of fraud that is truly unbelievable."
In May, WFAA reported that All Smiles bankruptcy documents showed that Malouf owns 28 percent of the company, and Valor Equity of Chicago had the remaining 72 percent.
A subsidiary of Valor is a named defendant in one of the Attorney General’s suits.
Abbott alleges Malouf and others violated of the Texas Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act.“The defendants knowingly or intentionally submitted false information, and misrepresented material facts, when seeking prior approval for orthodontic services,” the lawsuit states.
“Defendants submitted claims for services which they did not provide, and misrepresented or concealed the true nature of the services which they provided,” it states.
“Defendants also knowingly paid or received consideration as a condition of the provision of dental/orthodontic services by unlawful recruiting and paying kickbacks for the recruiting of Medicaid clients,” it continues.
The suits allege that Malouf and the other defendants billed for work that was not medically necessary, and in some cases, performed it with unqualified dental workers. They also “upcoded,” or billed for orthodontics which were more expensive than what was actually provided, the suit states.by BYRON HARRIS and JASON TRAHAN
WFAA
