Dentistry, Fraud and Malpractice.
G. Donald Haslam, was a Paris, Texas dentist for thirty years until August 18, 1995 when he was forced to relinquish his dental license by the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners. It wasn’t the first time the Board caught him. Malpractice
The First Prosecution: In 1983, Four Felony Guilty Pleas and A Suspended License
The Board first sanctioned Haslam in 1983 when it found him guilty of “…dishonorable conduct, … in the practice of dentistry or dental hygiene.” by “…obtaining fees by fraud or misrepresentation.” The Board found he submitted fraudulent claims to Texas’ Medicaid program for dental work on a number of patients. The Board suspended his dental license for five years. Additionally, Haslam pleaded guilty to four [4] separate counts of criminal welfare fraud in Travis County, Texas. The man was sentenced to five [5] years of felony probation.
The Dallas Morning News’ Posterboy for Dental Malpractice
Because the Texas legislature didn’t timely fund the Board in 1994-5, Haslam nearly eluded accountability for still more criminal conduct. But a January 1995 Dallas Morning News front page story featured Haslam’s many malpractice lawsuits and urged state officials to fund the State Board so it could hold him accountable.
The Second Prosecution: In 1995, More Fraud, More Malpractice and a Forfeited Dental License
Texas did re-fund the Board soon after the DMN story. It promptly resumed its 1993 prosecution of Haslam for these malpractice events and new Medicaid fraud claims. Rather than challenge these new allegations, Haslam relinquished his dental license in August 1995. And – once again – he pleaded guilty to criminal welfare fraud and – once again – eluded prison time.
Bankruptcy Fraud
Sadly, Haslam also succeeded in discharging the many malpractice claims against him by filing bankruptcy in 1992. True to form, however, his bankruptcy trustee alleged Haslam and his wife Mary Claire fraudulently avoided paying other creditors and made the Haslams disgorge substantial secreted assets. Many of those creditors were tenants who lost their deposits in apartment buildings the Haslams owned.
In one final act of fraud, Claire listed her name in the bankruptcy filings as “Marcy”, a ploy apparently crafted to deceive credit reporting agencies from associating her with her bankruptcy. U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Sherman, TX [Petition 92-30638].
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