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Stamford Office Manager Pleads Guilty To Stealing Dentist's Identity, $500K

STAMFORD, Conn. -- A Stamford woman pleaded guilty Monday to stealing a dentist's identity and using it to defraud insurance companies out of more than $500,000, according to Deirdre M. Daly, U.S. Attorney for Connecticut.

A Stamford woman pleaded guilty to posing as a retired dentist to defraud insurance companies.

A Stamford woman pleaded guilty to posing as a retired dentist to defraud insurance companies.

Photo Credit: File

Elena Ilizarov, 44, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in Bridgeport to one count of wire fraud. If convicted, she could face up to 20 years in prison.

The charges stem from when Ilizarov worked as the office manager for Advanced Dentistry, a dental practice located in Stamford. 

According to court documents, between 2005 and 2016, Ilizarov billed private dental insurance companies for services supposedly performed for patients by a dentist at the practice. The dentist, who had been affiliated with Advanced Dentistry for a short period of time and retired in 2011, did not perform those services, Daly said.

Daly said that between 2011 and 2015, approximately $581,729 was paid by private insurance companies to Advanced Dentistry for services performed by the retired dentist, and the insurance companies issued 1099 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 car, according to Daly. She also applied for, and received, liability insurance in the name of the retired dentist for several years, according to court documents.

Ilizarov was arrested on June 21, 2016, and released on $500,000 bond. A sentencing date for the wire fraud has not been scheduled.

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