Rene Gaviola admitted to submitting fraudulent claims to Medicaid for pediatric dental services that the clinic did not provide between 2018 and 2021, according to a Jan. 26 news release from the Justice Department.
Mr. Gaviola employed an individual to practice dentistry who did not have a license and also occasionally operated the clinic without any dentists present.
He also paid kickbacks to marketers and caregivers of Medicaid-insured children to have them brought to the clinic for dental services.
The clinic billed Medicaid for nearly $6.9 million in claims for pediatric services between 2019 and 2021, and Medicaid paid approximately $4.9 million of those claims, the release said.
Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane accepted the guilty plea and scheduled sentencing for April 16.
