The Attorney General of Texas has filed a lawsuit against dentists, marketers, and companies for allegedly engaging in a scheme to defraud Medicaid by performing unnecessary and, sometimes, high-risk dental treatments on patients, including children.
The state filed the suit against Drs. Ben Luka and Sheel Patel, officers and members of Stadium Dental in Texas; Dr. Hiren Patel, the former owner of SOH of Texas; and Samson Liu, who does business as Stadium Dental, Ellis Dental, and Park Row Dental. Also, the suit, which was filed in 2024 but was recently unsealed, names DFW Capital and marketers Frank Villaneuva, owner of Dental Axis in Texas, and Bryan Lopez, an alleged partner of Villaneuva and owner of Dental Market One in Texas, according to a press release dated March 30 from the attorney general’s office.
The state claims that the dentists and marketers engaged in a bribery scheme that targeted Medicaid beneficiaries and their families by offering gift cards in exchange for becoming patients, according to the lawsuit.
The marketers not only allegedly directed patients to schedule appointments with the dentists, but they frequently circulated patients between this network of clinics to maximize Medicaid reimbursements. The dentists are accused of paying referral fees to the marketers. Paying Medicaid beneficiaries for treatment is considered an illegal kickback.
Once patients made appointments, the dentists reportedly performed unneeded and, in some cases, high-risk dental procedures. They allegedly billed the state Medicaid program for services that were not medically necessary, according to the lawsuit.
This alleged scheme reportedly began in 2014 and resulted in tens of thousands of fraudulent Medicaid claims, according to the press release.
The investigation into this case began when a dentist purchased one of the practices that is now being sued. The dentist learned that the practice had a very large marketing budget and that Dental Axis was offering gift cards to Medicaid patients who sought treatment at the practice.
“It is malicious and unacceptable that these providers were performing dangerous, medically unnecessary procedures on patients in order to scam our Medicaid system,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in the press release.
A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
