Calgary — The sentencing hearing for Dr. Alena Smadych has been adjourned after prosecutors identified additional victims in a dental insurance fraud scheme, Crown prosecutor Greg Whiteside told Justice Gord Wong on Wednesday.
Whiteside said three more insurers traced fraudulent billings to Smadych that used the same method prosecutors say she used to defraud Sun Life and Blue Cross.
Earlier allegations state she bilked those two carriers of more than $126,000 by submitting false claims about patient procedures.
The newly identified losses are substantial: Greenshield reported $360,664.52 in fraudulent claims, Manulife $169,916.76 and Manitoba Blue Cross $27,493.68 — a combined total of $558,074.96.
Whiteside said Smadych made full restitution to those three companies after police, through defence counsel Alain Hepner, contacted her.
Court heard that Smadych’s former clinic, All About Family Dental — which she has since sold — filed more root-canal claims than any other general dental clinic in Canada, according to Whiteside.
Investigators from Sun Life began documenting unusual billing patterns in September 2021. One example cited was a December 20, 2020 batch of claims for 17 patients totalling $19,144.
Defence counsel Hepner applied to adjourn sentencing after the supplemental agreed facts were provided. Whiteside told the court the new material “changes the landscape somewhat.”
Sentencing submissions are now scheduled for Dec. 5. Justice Wong is expected to deliver his decision in January.