A dentist with an office in North Haven was arrested today and charged with defrauding Medicaid by billing the government health care program $200,484.62 for services he did not perform.
Christian O’Connor, age 53, of Michael Road, Hamden, a dentist at Renew Dental in North Haven, was arrested today by Inspectors from the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney and charged with one count of Larceny in the First Degree By Defrauding A Public Community, and one count of Health Insurance Fraud.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, between July 2016 and March 2021, O’Connor, the sole owner and principal of Renew Dental, submitted $200,484.52 in false claims to Medicaid alleging to have done dental work that had not been performed.
The amount of money profited by O'Connor in the amount of $200,484.62, constitutes the crime of Larceny in the First Degree by Defrauding a Public Community. The submission of claims to the Department of Social Services provided by O’Connor contained false, incomplete, deceptive or misleading information which constitutes the crime of Health Insurance Fraud.
O’Connor was released on a $100,000 non-surety bond, and is scheduled to appear in Hartford Superior Court, G.A. No. 14, on August 18, 2021. The charges are merely accusations and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case will be prosecuted by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. The Unit is grateful for the assistance it received in this investigation from the state’s Department of Social Services; Office of Quality Assurance, the Connecticut Attorney General’s Office, and the New Britain Police Department.
Anyone with knowledge of suspected fraud or abuse in the public healthcare system is asked to contact the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit at the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney in Rocky Hill at 860-258-5986.