STAMFORD, Conn. — A Stamford woman was sentenced to a year in prison for using a retired dentist’s identity to send fake bills to insurance companies.

Elena Ilizarov, 45, of Stamford was sentenced Friday to 12 months and one day of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, according to Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.

According to court documents, Ilizarov served as the office manager for a dental practice in Stamford, and between 2005 and 2016 she billed 37 private dental insurance companies for services allegedly performed by an identity theft victim for patients of the dental practice. The identity theft victim did not perform these services, Daly said. The identity theft victim had been a dentist who had been affiliated with the dental practice for a short period of time, and had retired fully from dentistry in 2011.

In total, Ilizarov earned more than $1.2 million by billing in the name of the retired dentist, Daly said.

Between 2011 and 2015, approximately $581,729 was paid by private insurance companies to the dental practice for services allegedly provided by the retired dentist, Daly said. As a result, the insurance companies issued forms to the IRS pertaining to the retired dentist.

In 2015 and 2016, Ilizarov renewed the retired dentist’s Connecticut dental license and controlled substance registrations, paying for the renewals with her personal credit card. She also applied for, and received, liability insurance in the name of the retired dentist for several years, Daly said.

Ilizarov was arrested on a federal criminal complaint on June 21, 2016. She pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud on March 13.

A judge will issue a restitution order within 30 days.

Source: Stamford Woman Gets Prison For Using Dentist’s Identity In Fraud Scheme | Stamford Daily Voice