AG ANNOUNCES ARREST OF SOUTHWEST ALABAMA DENTIST; PARTNER PLEADED GUILTY TO SIMILAR MEDICAID FRAUD CHARGES (MONTGOMERY) Attorney General Luther Strange announced the arrest today of a Southwest Alabama dentist on charges of Medicaid fraud for actions to which his partner pleaded guilty last week. Dr. William Britt Morris surrendered this morning to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and was released on $30,000 bond. Dr. Jimmy C. White was convicted on June 11. The two dentists have offices in Butler and Grove Hill. The Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit presented evidence to a Montgomery County grand jury resulting in an indictment * on June 13 charging Morris with 59 total counts of alleged violations against the Alabama Medicaid Agency. The charges include 58 counts of filing a false claim with the Alabama Medicaid Agency and one count of first-degree theft of property. The charges allege that Morris acted with his partner, White, to defraud the Alabama Medicaid Agency of approximately half a million dollars since 2009 when they went into business together. It is alleged that Morris and White performed unapproved procedures and then fraudulently billed them as approved procedures. It is also alleged that Morris and White either did not perform or unnecessarily performed other procedures. The filing false claims charges are unclassified felonies with a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment for each count. The first-degree theft of property charge is a class B felony which carries a sentence of two to 20 years imprisonment. White pleaded guilty last week, pursuant to a plea agreement, to one count of attempted Medicaid fraud. He was sentenced to one year, which was suspended for a term of one year of probation. In addition, White paid $36,812.54 in restitution, agreed to be permanently excluded from the Alabama Medicaid Program and agreed to testify against his partner. All information regarding these two doctors has been forwarded to the Alabama Board of Dental Examiners, which will determine if their dental licenses will be revoked. Attorney General Strange commended the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for its steadfast investigation and prosecution of these cases, noting in particular Assistant Attorney General Jon Moody who is assigned to prosecute the matter.
Posted on: Wed, 18 Jun 2014 20:33:02 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015