Three dentists from Cleveland have been arrested in a racketeering and corruption case involving that city's MetroHealth System hospital.
Sari Alqsous, DDS; Yazan Al-Madani, DDS; Tariq Sayegh, DDS; and former MetroHealth System executive Edward Hills were arrested on October 25 after they were indicted by the U.S. Attorney's Office in a case involving the hospital's Department of Oral Health and Dentistry, according to a Cleveland.com story. The case involves about $250,000 in misused funds, the majority of which was taxpayer money.
The men are also accused of steering MetroHealth clients and resources toward their private businesses and coercing prospective dental residents to pay for preferential treatment, according to the story. The dentists, who worked as attending dentists at MetroHealth from 2008 to 2014, allegedly took $75,000 in bribes from international students applying to the hospital's resident program, the news site reported.
The indictment also accuses Drs. Alqsous and Al-Madani of bribing Hills to give them nearly $100,000 in bonuses from MetroHealth, in addition to other perks.
Hills, Dr. Al-Madani, and Dr. Alqsous are also accused of accepting kickbacks for referring Medicaid patients to Drs. Alqsous' and Al-Madani's private dental offices, according to the story.
