Doraville Dentist Sentenced In Medicaid Fraud Scheme

DORAVILLE, GA -- A dentist with offices in Doraville and Duluth has been sentenced to federal prison for filing nearly $1 million in false Medicaid claims, federal authorities said Wednesday.

In an elaborate scheme that ran for nearly half a decade, federal officials said Dr. Oluwatoyin Solarin enriched herself, buying up more than a dozen metro Atlanta properties and billing the state for days she wasn't even in the country.

She was ordered to serve one year and six months behind bars, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

“Solarin cheated the Medicaid program by submitting fraudulent claims, even billing the government for procedures she allegedly performed at the same time she was out of the country,” said U.S. Attorney John Horn in a statement. “The wealth she amassed through her scheme will now be forfeited and paid back to the government.”

Solarin owned two Care Dental practices, one in Doraville on Buford Highway and the other in Duluth on Pleasant Hill Road.

Federal authorities said for four years beginning in 2009, Solarin submitted false claims to the Georgia Medicaid Program and the Peach State Health Plan of Georgia Medicaid. She also told an employee to "backdate" the eligibility of Medicaid patients whose services had expired, according to Horn.

“Solarin abused her position of trust and stole money from the taxpayers for her own enrichment," Derrick L. Jackson, a special agent with the Atlanta office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Solarin agreed to give up her real estate and repay the money she made from her scheme.

Image via Google Street View