FORMER DENTIST INDICTED FOR MEDICAID FRAUD

Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. announced today that Azad Ally, formerly a dentist licensed in Maryland and Medicaid provider of dental services in the Silver Spring area, and his wife, Nelinee Deonarine, were indicted in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City on conspiracy and Medicaid fraud charges. The indictment charges that Ally, 44, and Deonarine, 43, both of 1600 block of Agnes Avenue, Palm Bay, Florida, from August 1997, through May 1999, knowingly defrauded the Maryland Medical Assistance Program of approximately $282,000.00 in connection with a community dental health services program through the State’s Medicaid program and administered by Prudential Insurance Company, which has since been purchased by Aetna Insurance Company. Specifically, Ally and his wife are charged with submitting hundreds of claims to the Medicaid program and receiving reimbursement for dental services that were never provided to recipients.

An indictment is an accusation and all persons are presumed innocent unless proven guilty. Medicaid Fraud is a felony and punishable by up to five years incarceration and a fine up to $100,000.00; if convicted of medicaid fraud Ally would be ineligible for further payment from the Maryland Medicaid program and barred from participation in other federal health programs for a minimum of five years.

The case is being prosecuted by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) of the Maryland Attorney General’s Office. The MFCU conducted the investigation with assistance of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General.

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