Allegations
Texas-based dental management firm MB2 Dental Solutions, along with 21 affiliated practices, agreed to pay a combined $8.45 million to resolve allegations of filing false claims to Medicaid for pediatric dental services. DOJ alleged that between Jan. 1, 2009 and Dec. 31, 2014, MB2 and its affiliated practices submitted claims to the Texas Medicaid Fee for Service Program for fillings in children that were never provided. DOJ alleged that MB2 paid kickbacks to Medicaid beneficiaries and their families, as well as marketers and marketing entities, and also used false Medicaid provider numbers to misrepresent which dentists were performing the pediatric procedures. As part of the settlement, five Texas-based MB2 dentists — Christopher Steven Villanueva, Trung Minh Tang, Mauricio Dardano, Gabriel Shahwan and Akhil Reddy — agreed to pay the government $250,000 a piece to resolve individual claims against them. MB2's marketing head, Frank Villanueva, agreed to pay $100,000 to resolve claims against him. Additionally, the five dentists entered into a five-year CIA with the HHS-OIG.
