A Texas dental clinic operator was recently sentenced to 60 months in federal prison for defrauding the state's Medicaid program.
Rene Fernandez Gaviola paid kickbacks to marketers who referred pediatric Medicaid beneficiaries to his Houston clinic, according to a July 30 news release. He then fraudulently billed the state's Medicaid program for services not rendered and also used unlicensed individuals to practice dentistry.
Mr. Gaviola pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, five counts of healthcare fraud, one count of conspiracy to pay and receive healthcare kickbacks, three counts of payment of healthcare kickbacks and six counts of money laundering.
In addition to his prison sentence, Mr. Gaviola will serve three years of supervised release and pay $4,908,957 in Medicaid restitution on top of a personal money judgment of $2,996,092.