MISSOULA, Montana — Dr. Ronald David Dean, a 64-year-old Whitefish doctor, has been sentenced to six months in prison, followed by six months of home confinement, for defrauding Medicare and other federal health programs through a telemedicine conspiracy.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Dr. Dean pleaded guilty in July to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, as part of the Justice Department’s 2024 National Health Care Fraud Enforcement Action.
The court also ordered Dr. Dean to pay a fine of $100,000 and to pay $780,509 in restitution.
The scheme, which ran from about January 2022 until July 2023, resulted in more than $31 million in false billing to Medicare, the VA, and the Railroad Retirement Board.
Dr. Dean was paid by a telemedicine company to sign orders for durable medical equipment that patients did not need, and he fraudulently charged Medicare, CHAMPVA, and the Railroad Retirement Board programs for telemedicine office visits that did not occur.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) commended the efforts of the VA-OIG, HHS-OIG, and RRB-OIG agents in investigating the case.
“Submitting false claims for medical services that were not provided will not be tolerated,” said Special Agent in Charge Dimitriana Nikolov with the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General’s Northwest Field Office.
The government alleged in court documents that Dr. Dean relied on information provided by people he did not know, with an unknown amount of training or experience, to prescribe braces for beneficiaries he did not see or evaluate himself.
Related Federal Cases
- Lynada Laticia Mahone, Wire Fraud, Montana 2018 · Oklahoma
- Willard Wilson White III, Wire Fraud, Montana 2024 · North Dakota
- Thomas Lynn Syddall, Wire Fraud and Money Laundering, Montana 2023 · Utah
- Gerry Alen Albus, Social Security Fraud, Montana 2022 · Alabama
- Richard William Brooks, Wire Fraud, Montana 2024 · Kansas
Key Facts
- State: Montana
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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