Columbia Dental Owner Agrees To Settlement In False Claims Case

MANCHESTER, CT — A dentist who owns a chain of clinics in Connecticut and a major imaging center in Manchester has reached a six-figure settlement in a federal and state false claims case, a leading prosecutor said.

John H. Durham, United States attorney for the District of Connecticut, said Thursday that Dr. Abbas Mohammadi, and his businesses, Columbia Dental and Columbia Oral and Maxillocacial Imaging, have entered into a civil settlement agreement with federal and state authorities and paid $300,000 to resolve allegations that they violated the federal and state False Claims Acts.

Mohammadi, a dentist and oral surgeon, owns 15 Columbia Dental clinics throughout Connecticut, and Columbia Oral Maxillofacial Imaging in Manchester.

Mohammadi and both corporations are enrolled as providers in the Connecticut Medical Assistance Program, which includes the state’s Medicaid program, Durham said.

Mohammadi is accused of billing Medicaid for dental restoration services that were not provided or were not medically necessary from January 2012 through February 2016, Durham said.

Case records show that Mohammadi is also accused of billing Medicaid for x-ray services that were not provided by individuals who had been certified by the Dental Assisting National Board to take x-rays from January 2014 through November 2015.

To resolve the allegations under the federal and state False Claims Acts, Mohammadi, CDPC and COMILLC paid $300,000 in order to reimburse the Medicaid program, Durham said.

A complaint against Mohammadi, CDPC and COMILLC was filed in the U.S. District Court in Connecticut under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the both the federal and state False Claims Acts, which allow private parties to bring suit on behalf of the government, according to Durham.

The whistleblower provisions of both the federal and state False Claims Acts provide that the whistleblower is entitled to receive a percentage of the proceeds of any judgment or settlement recovered by the government.

The whistleblower, Brittany Ames Mahoney, a former employee at CDPC, will receive $45,000, Durham said.