Richard N. Schott, DDS, of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and Kendra L. Glenn of Hartwell, Georgia, and formerly of Murfreesboro are facing federal charges of defrauding healthcare benefit programs, according to the United States Attorney’s Office of the Middle District of Tennessee.
Schott surrendered to US Marshals in Nashville last week. The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Glenn at her home on Monday. Schott has been charged with conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, and Glenn is facing seven counts of healthcare fraud and one count of conspiracy.
According to the charging documents, Schott is a licensed dentist who owns and operates Dental Excellence, a dental practice with three locations in Murfreesboro and one location in Lebanon, Tennessee. Glenn was employed by Dental Excellence as the practice administrator.
The charging documents allege that between November 2013 and January 2018, Schott and Glenn caused the submission of false and fraudulent claims to healthcare benefit programs including Delta, Dental, Cigna, TennCare, and DentaQuest, TennCare’s dental benefits program administrator. The fraudulent claims included:
- Billing for dental work that had not been completed or performed at all
- Falsifying dates of service to appear to comply with benefit programs’ timeframe and preauthorization requirements
- Falsifying claims to appear that services had been rendered by a benefits program credentialed dentist
- Falsifying supporting documents and adding false narratives to support the upcoding of claims
The documents also allege the practice continued to submit false claims after being advised by insurance companies that audits had determined a pattern of false claims and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation was conducting a criminal investigation into its billing practices.
The charges further allege that Schott and Glenn:
- Discouraged employees from questioning billing practices
- Instructed employees to lie if questioned by insurance companies
- Disciplined and fired employees who questioned the legality of the billing practices
- Used the proceeds from the fraudulent scheme for personal use
- Paid Glenn bonuses based on the amount of money collected from the scheme
If convicted, Schott and Glenn face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count.
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