Compliance March 28, 2011

Dental Benefits Provider Pleads Guilty to Fraud

March 28, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Jonathan Hogge of Munster, Indiana, was sentenced to 84 months’ imprisonment and ordered to pay $254,425.57 in restitution following pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy, nine counts of mail fraud, and one count of wire fraud.
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“As the third-party administrator to over 1,100 dental plans, he disregarded his obligation to honestly provide the services covered by these plans,” said Steve Haugen, Regional Director of the Employee Benefits Security Administration in Chicago, in a press release. Hogge was also fined $1,100.   

According to the press release, Hogge was the founder and former president of My Smart Benefits, Inc. (MSB), a company that provided dental benefits to businesses, which includes labor union health and welfare funds, and individuals across the United States.  Hogge was charged by grand jury indictment in 2007, and convicted of defrauding the participants in 2009 following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor Office of the Inspector General and the Employee Benefits Security Administration.   

MSB closed its doors in 2003 after Hogge’s fraud was discovered.

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