TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the Pembroke Pines Police Department today arrested a dentist and office manager for defrauding the Medicaid program out of more than $50,000. According to the MFCU investigation, Maritza Lazcano, owner of Lazcano Family Dental, and Luis Garcia Fragoso, the office manager, fraudulently billed the Medicaid program for numerous dental procedures never performed. These procedures included cleanings, crowns, root canals, x-rays, etc.
Lazcano, 51, and Fragoso, 45, each face one count of Medicaid fraud, a first-degree felony and one count of grand theft, a second-degree felony. If convicted, both defendants face up to 45 years in prison. Attorney General Bondi’s Office of Statewide Prosecution is prosecuting this case.
The Florida Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigates and prosecutes providers that intentionally defraud the state’s Medicaid program through fraudulent billing practices. Medicaid fraud essentially steals from Florida’s taxpayers. From Jan. 2011 to the present, Attorney General Bondi’s MFCU has obtained more than $750 million in settlements and judgments. Additionally, the MFCU investigates allegations of patient abuse, neglect, and exploitation in facilities receiving payments under the Medicaid program. In 2017, the MFCU was awarded the Inspector General’s Award for Excellence in Fighting Fraud, Waste and Abuse. This award is presented annually to the nation’s top MFCU by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.
