The operator of Floss Family Dental Care clinic in Houston pleaded guilty to a $6 million Medicaid fraud and kickback scheme.
Rene Gaviola admitted to submitting fraudulent claims to Medicaid for pediatric dental services that the clinic did not provide between 2018 and 2021, according to a Jan. 26 news release from the Justice Department.
Mr. Gaviola employed an individual to practice dentistry who did not have a license and also occasionally operated the clinic without any dentists present.
He also paid kickbacks to marketers and caregivers of Medicaid-insured children to have them brought to the clinic for dental services.
The clinic billed Medicaid for nearly $6.9 million in claims for pediatric services between 2019 and 2021, and Medicaid paid approximately $4.9 million of those claims, the release said.
Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane accepted the guilty plea and scheduled sentencing for April 16.