Maryland Attorney General: Former dentist to spend 18 months in prison after violating probation terms

MARYLAND ( DC News Now ) — A former Potomac dentist will spend 18 months in jail after violating probation terms.

Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown’s office said Friday that 57-year-old Seyed Hamid Tofigh pleaded guilty to defrauding a state health plan and practicing dentistry without a license on Feb. 6.

Brown said that Tofigh was charged after he performed dentistry on Medicaid recipients — almost all of whom were children — without a license. Officials said Tofigh used licensed dentists’ names, provider numbers and credentials to submit payment claims.

He was initially sentenced to 18 months of home detention with the other 3.5 years suspended and an additional five years of probation. However, Brown said that Tofigh violated the terms of his probation.

One of the terms stipulated that he was not allowed to provide health care services; but during his home detention sentence, Tofigh “almost immediately began to apply for dentistry positions at practices in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC, using an altered dental license,” the Attorney General’s news release said.

A judge said that Tofigh also left his home without approval from the monitoring company, traveled to unapproved places and did not give verification for time outside of his home.

“People who knowingly break the law over cannot avoid the consequences. This former dentist had already put his young patients at risk and was trying to return to practicing dentistry again without a license, which would have put the public in danger. I’m glad the Court acted because this behavior can’t be allowed. If you break the law, you will face the consequences every time,” Brown said in the release.

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