Houston dental office owner employed unlicensed dentists, submitted fraudulent claims

HOUSTON - Rene Fernandez Gaviola has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for executing a $6 million scheme involving fraudulent claims and kickbacks, U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani announced.

The 68-year-old who pleaded guilty on Jan. 26, was ordered by Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane to serve 10 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Additionally, Gaviola must pay nearly $4.9 million in restitution to Medicaid and faces a personal money judgment of approximately $3 million.

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Operating the Floss Family Dental Care clinic in Houston, Gaviola submitted fraudulent Medicaid claims for pediatric dental services from 2018 to April 2021. These claims included cavity fillings that were either not provided or performed by unlicensed individuals. Gaviola's son, who was not a licensed dentist, was also employed illegally to provide these services to Medicaid-insured kids, and at times, the clinic operated without any licensed dentists on site. Floss then billed Medicaid for these unauthorized services.

Between 2019 and 2021, Floss Family Dental Care billed Medicaid nearly $6.9 million for pediatric dental services, of which Medicaid paid approximately $4.9 million.

The scheme extended further as Gaviola paid kickbacks to marketers and caregivers to bring Medicaid-insured children to the clinic. He also admitted to laundering money from the clinic’s business account to his personal account, with several transactions exceeding $100,000.

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Judge Crane spoke of Gaviola involving his own son in the fraudulent activities, describing the scheme as "crooked." Despite having $2 million in assets hidden in the Philippines, Gaviola made no effort to repay the restitution.

Gaviola’s co-conspirator, Mia Diaz, 48, from Cleveland, who managed the clinic, was previously sentenced to 21 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release on April 16.

Following his sentencing, Gaviola was taken into custody and will remain there until his transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility.