Queens, N.Y. Dentist Has Brush with Law

New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced that a Queens dentist has admitted to defrauding the Medicaid program while working at various dental offices in the New York City-Long Island area.

The dentist, Edward Levy, 42, of Forest Hills, pleaded guilty in Nassau County Court to Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, a Class E felony. He also pleaded guilty to Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a Class D felony, in Queens County Court.

As part of the negotiated pleas, Levy will be sentenced to one year of weekends in jail. He is also required to pay restitution of $485,000 to the Medicaid program.

With his plea, Levy reportedly admitted that he had billed Medicaid for dental services he had not provided and that he falsely billed Medicaid by billing through the provider numbers of other dentists after he had been excluded from the Medicaid program and thus prohibited from providing care to Medicaid patients.