A former Maryland dentist was ordered to pay $8.5 million in restitution for Medicaid fraud, FOX 5 DC reported Feb. 9.
Seyed Hamid Tofigh, DDS, practiced unlicensed dentistry on Medicaid recipients and then used information from other licensed dentists to submit the claims for payment.
Dr. Tofigh's license was suspended in March 2014 after the Maryland Board of Dental Examiners received complaints and determined Dr. Tofigh likely posed a risk of harm. The board revoked his license in 2015 after finding that Dr. Tofigh failed to keep proper dental records, provided substandard treatment, billed for services he didn’t provide and engaged in "unprofessional and dishonorable conduct," according to the report.
From 2015 through 2022, Dr. Tofigh submitted claims using information of a former colleague and of family members who were also licensed dentists.
He was charged with one count of defrauding a state health plan and one count of practicing dentistry without a license.
The judge suspended all but 78 days of Dr. Tofigh's five-year prison sentence. For the Medicaid fraud charge, Dr. Tofigh was also sentenced to 18 months of home detention and five years of probation. For the charge of practicing without a license, Dr. Tofigh was given a suspended sentence of one year in jail followed by five years of probation.
Additionally, Dr. Tofigh was given a year to pay $8.5 million in restitution. He already paid $4.5 million payment toward restitution at the time of his sentencing, FOX 5 DC reported. He is also prohibited from providing state- or federally-funded healthcare services.