Grafton dentist accused of intentionally damaging patients' teeth convicted of health care fraud

GRAFTON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A federal jury has found a Grafton dentist guilty of health care fraud and making false statements related to health care matters. 

Sixty-one-year-old Scott Charmoli engaged in a years-long scheme to defraud dental insurance companies into paying for unnecessary crown procedures, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. 

Evidence presented at trial showed that Charmoli began to "aggressively" sell patients crown procedures in 2015.

After convincing his patients that they needed crowns, officials say Charmoli intentionally broke his patients' teeth with his drill and took pictures and X-rays of the damage he caused. 

He then sent images of the damage to insurance companies to support his requests for payment for the crown procedures. 

The DOJ says insurance companies paid the claims, and many of Charmoli's patients also paid significant copays for these procedures. 

Evidence showed that Charmoli billed over $4.2 million for crown procedures between 2016 and 2019 and that he performed more than 700 crowns each year from 2015-2019. 

He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 17. 

Charmoli faces a maximum term of 10 years imprisonment for each health care fraud conviction and a maximum term of five years of imprisonment for each false statement conviction.