58 year old April Rose Ambrosio, a San Diego dentist, was charged with 75 felony insurance fraud counts for allegedly bilking insurance companies of hundreds of thousands of dollars by submitting claims for procedures she never performed, including more than 600 root canals. Her office was located at 10717 Camino Ruiz # 164, San Diego, CA 92126

She faces 83 years in prison if convicted of all counts.

Prosecutors allege Ambrosio submitted insurance claims for as many as 28 root canals on a single patient, and also submitted claims indicating she had performed more than 100 root canals over a three-month period for a family of four.

According to court documents, an insurance company filed a suspected fraud form with the California Department of Insurance in December 2016 over the unusually high number of root canals performed on that family, and Ambrosio’s failure to provide supporting documentation for the dental work.

Ambrosio is accused of defrauding eight insurance companies in the alleged billing scheme, which took place over the course of three years. Though she received around $300,000, according to the Department of Insurance, prosecutors say she billed the insurance companies for nearly $600,000.

She remains out of custody on her own recognizance, but Superior Court Judge Laura Parsky ordered Ambrosio to surrender her passport. The judge also imposed a Fourth Amendment waiver, which means Ambrosio is subject to law enforcement searches, even without a warrant.

She pleaded not guilty to all counts and is due back in court Sept. 5 for a readiness conference.

“The audacity of this defendant’s repeated fraud is astounding,” San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said. “Unfortunately, when insurance companies get ripped off, consumers ultimately pay the price through higher premiums.”

Investigators from the state Department of Insurance, working with the insurance fraud division of the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, spent two years investigating Ambrosio.