Illegal Dentist's Work Results in $60,000 Worth of Damage, Authorities Say

December 2, 2016

The suspect provided extensive dental work that needed to be corrected, authorities said.

A 74-year-old man in Utica, NY, has found himself in a heap of legal trouble after being arrested for allegedly practicing unlicensed dentistry that resulted in $60,000 worth of work to correct services he provided.

According to the Macomb Daily, police arrested Velimir Krgovic on Nov. 18, charging him with impersonating a health care provider. According to the report, Krgovic provided treatment for a woman, spanning from January 2015 through March 2016. The report described the treatment as “extensive,” saying she was charged $8,200 for services including “3 root canals, 3 posts, and removal of all crowns.”

“Krgovic provided the victim with pills that she was told were antibiotics,” the report said.

The Macomb Daily reports that the woman began to grow suspicious after she continued to experience pain and discomfort. She then sought treatment from another dentist, the report says. According to the report, the new dentist told her “that all the work completed by Krgovic was not performed correctly and would require $60,000 worth of dental work to repair the damages done by Krgovic.”

Investigating officers determined that Krgovic was unlicensed, though he told investigators that he had gone to dental school in Montenegro. The Macomb Daily reports that Krgovic has since been released after posting $25,000 bond.

This isn’t the first high-profile arrest of an alleged dentist impersonator. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported earlier in November about how a report of a stolen oven led to the discovery of an illegal dental practice in an Atlanta-area warehouse. Two suspects were arrested in that incident: the alleged unlicensed dentist and the landlord who is accused of harboring him. In the GA incident, the suspect, Yuri Aleksandruk, said he was licensed to practice “overseas.”

The stolen oven ultimately had nothing to do with the dental practice. According to a report, a man investigating stolen property on Craigslist found an oven at the warehouse that he determined to be stolen after inspecting the serial number. He called police, who stumbled upon the illegal dental practice during their response, the report said.