Former Maryland children's dentist steals $8.5 million from Medicaid

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. - A former Maryland children's dentist pled guilty to the theft of $8.5 million from the Medicaid program. 

The suspect has been identified as 57-year-old Seyed Hamid Tofigh. He ped guilty to one count of Defrauding a State health plan, the Medicaid program, and one count of Practicing Dentistry Without a License.

According to officials, Tofigh practiced dentistry without a license on Maryland Medicaid recipients, almost exclusively children, and used the names, provider numbers, and professional credentials of licensed dentists to submit claims. In total, Tofigh received $8.5 million from Maryland Medicaid for services that were fraudulently billed under the names of four other providers.

"This case revealed a complex healthcare fraud scheme that not only drained taxpayer dollars away from our State’s Medicaid program, but also placed Dr. Tofigh’s young patients in real danger," said Attorney General Brown. "By stopping Dr. Tofigh, my office continues in its commitment to protecting patients and ensuring the integrity of state programs remains intact."

Tofigh was sentenced to five years in jail, suspending all but seventy-eight days, and placed Tofigh on eighteen months’ home detention, with a five-year term of probation for the Medicaid fraud count, and to one year in jail, suspended, followed by a five-year term of probation for practicing dentistry without a license. Both sentences are to run consecutively. He has also been ordered to pay $8.5 million in restitution within one year. 

At the time of sentencing, Tofigh made a $4.5 million payment towards restitution. Lastly, Tofigh is prohibited from providing healthcare services that are either partially or wholly funded by state or federal governments and must permanently surrender his Maryland dental license.

Officials say Tofigh has been a licensed dentist in Maryland since September 1994 and owned several dental practices with two of his brothers. By 2015, all three brothers separated their ownership of the different dental practices, while Tofigh retained ownership of Greenbelt Family Dentistry, located at 7500 Hanover Parkway, Greenbelt, Maryland, and Rockville Family Dentistry, located at 5806 Hubard Drive, Rockville, Maryland.

In March 2014, following several complaints from Tofigh’s patients, the Maryland Board of Dental Examiners suspended Tofigh’s license to practice dentistry, due to a substantial likelihood that he posed a risk of harm to public health, safety, and welfare. Tofigh’s license to practice dentistry was revoked in February 2015. Officials say an investigation revealed he kept "consistently incompetent and egregiously deficient" dental records, provided incompetent and substandard treatment to patients, fraudulently billed for services never provided, and engaged in unprofessional and dishonorable conduct.