Suleman Nasimi, dentist from Hicksville practicing in Queens, charged with stealing more than $300,000 from Medicaid

A Queens dentist residing in Hicksville has been charged with stealing more than $300,000 by billing Medicaid for hundreds of dental procedures over a 4½-year period for work never performed, State Attorney General Letitia James announced.

Suleman Nasimi, 46, and his practice, Tooth Fresh Meadows, were charged in two separate 40-count felony complaints on Monday before Queens Criminal Court Judge Jennifer Saint-Preux.

Nasimi and his practice were each charged with one count of second-degree grand larceny, two counts each of second- and third-degree healthcare fraud and with 35 counts of first-degree offering a false instrument for filing, the attorney general's office said in a news release.

If convicted of the top count, Nasimi faces 5 to 15 years in prison.

Attorney Jeffrey A. Granat, of the Garden City firm Jacobson, Goldberg and Kulb, said Nasimi entered a plea of not guilty at arraignment — and was released on his own recognizance.

Granat said, "We deny the allegations" Granat said, and he and Nasimi "look forward" to having the chance to rebuke the charges in court.

In the statement on Monday, the state attorney general's office said between Jan. 1, 2020, and Aug. 31, 2024, Nasimi and his practice submitted false claims for dental procedures on at least 35 Medicaid recipients that were never performed. In July 2022 alone, the dentist was alleged to have billed more than $140,000 in procedures despite the fact his office was closed — and he was on vacation in England, France and Greece, the attorney general's office said.

The billings in question claimed Nasimi performed hundreds of procedures, including root canals and porcelain crown installations, though none of that work was ever performed, the release said.

Authorities said as a result of the fraudulent billings, patients were unable to receive the necessary dental procedures because Medicaid records showed they had already received treatments, as billed by Nasimi and Tooth Fresh Meadows.

"Fraudsters who steal from Medicaid with fake billing schemes put vulnerable New Yorkers at risk by making it harder for them to get the care they need," James said in a statement.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a Newsday reporter since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press, Society of the Silurians and National Headliner Awards for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing. He is the author of “Swee'pea,” about New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. His debut crime novel, “For Nothing Is Hidden,” rooted in 1950s Long Island, was released in October 2025.