A former Stamford resident who had a stake in 13 of the state's dental practices has pleaded guilty to Medicaid fraud and will pay the agency $21 million as part of a settlement, state officials said Wednesday.
Mehran Zamani, 50, of Pound Ridge, New York, was arrested after federal agents raided his dental offices in May 2012. Rhode Island resident Gary Anusavice, who owned the practices, was also arrested. Anusavice has since been indicted and sentenced to more than eight years in prison.
Federal prosecutors said Zamani and Anusavice defrauded the Medicaid program of nearly $21 million in illegal billing between January 2008 and March 2011.
Zamani pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to obstructing the administration of a federal health care program.
He will be excluded from all federal health care programs for 10 years and is required to reimburse Medicaid $21 million as part of a lawsuit settlement, according to the attorney general's office.
He'll also forfeit a property at 18 Madison Street in Hartford, which is valued at $159,000, according to federal prosecutors.
