A Los Angeles, California-based dentist was sentenced to 40 months in prison for his role in a $3.8 million health care fraud scheme in which he billed numerous dental insurance carriers for crowns and fillings that were never provided to patients.
Benjamin Rosenberg, D.D.S., 59, of Los Angeles, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John A. Kronstadt of the Central District of California, who also ordered Rosenberg to pay $1,414,011.59 in restitution. Rosenberg pleaded guilty on Jan. 31, 2019, to one count of health care fraud.
He was originally charged with six counts of health care fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft. He had an office at the time located at 8540 S Sepulveda Blvd, Westchester, CA 90045.
As part of his guilty plea, Rosenberg admitted that he submitted and caused to be submitted approximately $3,853,931 in false and fraudulent claims to various insurance companies for dental care that he knew had not been rendered.
Rosenberg further admitted that he submitted these false and fraudulent claims to Denti- Cal (California Medi-Cal Dental Program), Metlife, Anthem, Cigna, Delta Dental, Guardian, LMCO-DHA, United Healthcare and United Concordia (the carriers), which caused the carriers to pay Rosenberg approximately $1,415,011.
Rosenberg was originally licensed by the Dental Board of California in 1988. An Amended Accusation seeking to revoke his license was filed by Kamala Harris the California Attorney General, accused Rosenberg of misconduct dating back to 2010. The Accusation alleged multiple instances of dental insurance fraud.
In September 2017 he submitted a written request to surrender his license to resolve the disciplinary action that was pending. On January 2, 2018 the surrender was accepted and he is no longer licensed as a dentist in California.
This case was investigated by the FBI. Trial Attorney Emily Z. Culbertson of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section is prosecuting the case.
The Fraud Section leads the Medicare Strike Force, which is part of a joint initiative between the Department of Justice and HHS to focus their efforts to prevent and deter fraud and enforce current anti-fraud laws around the country.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which maintains 14 strike forces operating in 23 districts, has charged nearly 4,000 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $14 billion. In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.