NY dentist sentenced to 15 months for fraud

Jul 20, 2010

A New York dentist was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison and ordered to repay more than $125,000 to insurance companies and the U.S. government for insurance and tax fraud, according to U.S. Attorney William Hochul Jr.

Scott D. Geise, D.D.S., who operated Newfane Family Dentistry in Newfane in western New York, pleaded guilty in March to felony charges of filing a false healthcare claim and a false tax return. Dr. Geise was ordered by a federal judge to repay $40,023 to the insurance companies he defrauded and $87,782 to the Internal Revenue Service for taxes he owes.

Dr. Geise was first indicted on 57 felony counts in 2007. He long maintained his innocence in the case until his trial began in March, but then admitted the fraudulent schemes, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

As an example, he billed the patients' insurance company for a mouthguard used to treat teeth grinding instead of a bleach-whitening kit asked for by patients because the whitening kit was not covered by insurance.

Dr. Geise also defrauded the self-insured dental insurance plans of General Motors and Delphi by billing for amalgam fillings when he only applied sealants to patients' teeth because the plans covered amalgams but not sealants, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

As part of the plea agreement, Dr. Geise also admitted to assisting another person with submitting a fraudulent claim for healthcare benefits to the Laborers Local 91 Welfare Fund.

Dr. Geise also admitted that he failed to record cash receipts for his business as income on corporate tax returns from 2003 to 2005, failing to list more than $188,000 in income and failed to pay corporate taxes of $58,254. He also failed to pay $29,527 in taxes on his personal returns for the years 2002 through 2005, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.