Fairfield Dentist Must Pay $1.7M For Fraud Scheme, Court Orders

FAIRFIELD, CT — A Fairfield dentist has been ordered in superior court to pay more than $1.7 million for participating in a scheme to defraud the state's Medicaid program, according to a news release from the Office of the Attorney General of Connecticut.

Following a seven-day trial in Hartford, the court found that from May 2014 to May 2015, Aram Agadjanian, also known as Aram Yuri Agadzanov, knowingly presented numerous claims for payment for dental work that was never provided to state Medicaid patients, the news release said. Agadjanian knew these claims were fraudulent and created false records, according to the news release.

The court ordered Agadjanian pay damages, along with a civil penalty of $1.5 million. The court assessed penalties at the maximum of the penalty range because Agadjanian persistently failed to provide dental services to which the patients were entitled, victimized a population of handicapped people, and didn't accept responsibility for his wrongdoing, the news release said.

"Dr. Agadjanian engaged in an illegal scheme to defraud state and federal healthcare programs by preying on some of Connecticut's most vulnerable citizens. ... This favorable ruling in the Office of the Attorney General's first-ever trial under the Connecticut False Claims Act sends a clear message that bad actors who victimize our Medicaid members will be held accountable," Attorney General William Tong said in the news release.

Agadjanian was enrolled as a dental provider in the Connecticut Medical Assistance Program, which includes the state's Medicaid program, from May 2009 to May 2015. The Connecticut Department of Social Services, the administering agency for CMAP, terminated his provider agreement.

In the news release, Tong thanked the DSS Office of Quality Assurance; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General – Office of Investigations; the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Office of the Chief State's Attorney and the Vernon Police Department, which referred the matter to the Attorney General, for their assistance and coordination in the case.

Anyone with knowledge of suspected fraud or abuse in the public healthcare system is asked to contact the Attorney General’s Antitrust and Government Program Fraud Department at 860-808-5040 or by email at [email protected]; the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit at 860-258-5986 or by email at [email protected]; or the Department of Social Services fraud reporting hotline at 1-800-842-2155, online at www.ct.gov/dss/reportingfraud or by email to [email protected].