A Macomb dentist was sentenced to about seven months in jail in a million dollar Medicaid fraud scheme, Attorney General Bill Schuette announced.
David Johnson, 51, was also sentenced to five years probation.
The scheme was operated through Livernois Dental in Detroit which Johnson owned and operated, but has since sold.
“This man used the guise of dental treatment to intentionally steal from the taxpayers of this state who fund Medicaid,” said Schuette.
Schuette's Health Care Fraud Division began an investigation into Johnson after receiving an allegation that he was billing the Medicaid program using the identifying information of another dentist.
Johnson could not directly bill Medicaid himself because he was on the Medicaid exclusion list following earlier Medicaid fraud convictions in 2006. The exclusion list is a list of health care providers prohibited from billing the Medicaid program.
Officials say Johnson used the scheme to improperly bill Medicaid and private insurance $1.7 million over the course of three years.
Johnson was originally charged in May 2017 but was outside the country at the time and evaded arrest until the U.S. Marshals caught up with him in September in the Dominican Republic.
“Johnson may well have escaped justice but for the exemplary work of the U.S. Marshals Service,” Schuette added. “I would also like to thank Delta Dental for playing a prominent role in bring the illegal activity of Dr. Johnson to light.”
