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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowNine individuals from an Anderson dental office, including three dentists and the owner, are facing criminal charges for allegedly obtaining hundreds of thousands of dollars from Medicaid illegally, the Indiana attorney general announced Wednesday.
Criminal charges filed in Madison County Circuit Court 6 claim that Anderson Dental Center owner Sally Metzner and her co-defendants engaged in a scheme to submit false and inflated bills for dental services to the Indiana Medicaid program.
The probable cause affidavit highlights repeated instances of using the Medicaid provider number of one dentist when billing the work from another dentist; using the Medicaid number and Drug Enforcement Agency registration number of one dentist for prescriptions written by other dentists; filing Medicaid claims under the name of a dentist who no longer worked at the office; and submitting claims for the expensive procedure of deep sedation when only a local anesthetic was administered.
Metzner, 57, of Anderson has been charged with two counts of corrupt business influence, as a Class C felony. She has also been charged with money laundering, Medicaid fraud, theft, forgery and practicing dentistry without a license.
The three dentists charged with corrupt business influence, money laundering, Medicaid fraud and theft are:
Paul Pangallo, 73, Indianapolis; Jeffrey Rich, 69, Cicero; Thomas Dubois, 46, Indianapolis.
Office employees charged with corrupt business influence are: Jessica (Metzner) Worrell, 27, Anderson, also charged with forgery;
Beth Flynn-Lohrey, 45, Middletown, also charged with prescription drug fraud; Chris Martin, 31, Anderson, also charged with prescription drug fraud; Barbara Brooks, 62, Anderson, also charged with forgery.
A fifth administrative staff member, Deborah R. Davis, 55, Middletown, was charged with prescription drug fraud only.
The affidavit also alleged that the fraudulent billing continued even after authorities had executed search warrants at the office.
The Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit joined with the Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service and local authorities to investigate Anderson Dental Center. The investigation included executing three searches of the dental office, reviewing Medicaid claims, interviewing employees and co-defendants, and obtaining information from local pharmacies.
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