BALTIMORE (Legal Newsline) - Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler announced a settlement on Friday with a Woodstock-based dentist to resolve allegations that her practice billed Medicaid for services that were never rendered.
Gansler's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit looked into the practice of Lisa Valentine, interviewing former patients and staff members. The MFCU alleged Valentine's husband, Spencer Brown, who served as an employee of the practice, billed the Medicaid program for services that were not provided.
Under the terms of the settlement, Valentine will repay the Medicaid program $25,000 in civil damages.
"The hardworking taxpayers who fund the Medicaid program deserve to know that their money is benefiting those it is intended to help," Gansler said. "Our office took swift and decisive action against this dentist who was trying to abuse the system."
Brown pleaded guilty to one count of Medicaid fraud for submitting the fraudulent claims to the Medicaid program between January 2008 and November 2010. Brown received a five-year jail sentence with all but one year suspended. He was also ordered to pay $156,918 in restitution to the Medicaid program.
Md. AG Gansler settles billing allegations against dentist
