Showing posts with label Cosmetic and Family Dentistry of Marietta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cosmetic and Family Dentistry of Marietta. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Kenneth Morris Wiggins, Jr., DDS–Medicaid Fraud: Former Ohio “prison dentist” who fled to the Netherlands is returned to Georgia and sentenced to 7 years in prison.

 

Kenneth Morris WigginsMARIETTA, GA — Dr. Kenneth Morris Wiggins, Jr. pleaded guilty and was sentenced Monday (November 25, 2013) in Cobb County Superior Court for Medicaid fraud. Records indicate between January 1, 2007 and March 11, 2009 Dr. Kenneth M. Wiggins, Jr.,owner of Cosmetic and Family Dentistry with two locations, one in Marietta and one in Roswell, defrauded the state and federal government of $2.2 million.  That, ladies and gentlemen would be you!

In perfect Joran Van Der Sloot style, Wiggins fled to the Netherlands after he was indicted by a Cobb County grand jury in 2011.  (Joran Van Der Sloot, you remember, is the admitted murder of Stephaney Flores and suspected murder of Natalee Halloway, who disappeared while on spring break in Aruba.) 

In February 2013, Wiggins was apprehended in Punta Gorda, Belize where U.S. Marshals transported him to Miami, Florida.  There he waived extradition, and subsequently returned to Cobb County, Georgia, where he has been held without bond.

According to a September 2011 report, Wiggins submitted some 7,000 fraudulent Medicaid claims on 220 patients for “tooth re-implantations and “complicated suturing of wounds” that he never performed.

Wiggins’ plea deal would satisfy any sweet tooth.  He pled guilty to 1 count of Medicaid fraud and Judge A. Gregory Poole sentenced him to 7 years in prison and restitution of $2,230,718.81.

Cosmetic and Family Dentistry, originally ownership was Dr. Kenneth Wiggins and his wife, Dr. DeAnthia Childs-Wiggins.  Cosmetic and Family Dentistry became Family First Dentistry in February 2012 with Dr. Wiggins wife, DeAnthia at the helm according to records at the Georgia Secretary of State’s website.  Searching Cobb County court records fails to find a divorce between Kenneth and DeAnthia Wiggins.

Just a wild guess, but I imagine more than that has been spent since the investigation of Dr. Wiggins began.