Press Release
Seth Lookhart Sentenced for Medical Assistance Fraud, Embezzlement, Reckless Endangerment, and Illegal Practice of Dentistry
September 15, 2020
(Anchorage, AK) -- The State of Alaska announces that yesterday Anchorage Superior Court Judge Michael Wolverton sentenced Dentist Seth Lookhart for defrauding the State of Alaska Medicaid system, Embezzlement, Reckless Endangerment, and the Illegal Practice of Dentistry. Lookhart was sentenced to serve twenty years in jail with eight years suspended, twelve years to serve. Judge Wolverton also placed Lookhart on probation for 10 years, and ordered that Lookhart not practice medicine for the duration of probation. In crafting the sentence, Judge Wolverton found the need to reaffirm the community’s standards and deter other members of the professional community from exploiting disabled individuals to defraud Medicaid. Judge Wolverton found Lookhart’s crimes to be “horrendous,” and noted that the “hoverboard video” for which Lookhart is most well-known was not even the most serious aspect of this case. Judge Wolverton found that Lookhart almost killed many patients by performing anesthesia thousands of times without training or consent, on patients outside his scope of training and expertise, while stealing money from Medicaid and embezzling from his bosses.
The State asked Judge Wolverton for a restitution order in the amount of $2.2 million, to compensate for the funds that Lookhart fraudulently obtained from the Alaska Medicaid system and embezzled. A hearing to determine the amount of restitution has been set for later in September. Lookhart’s co-defendants - his office manager Shauna Cranford and his corporation, Lookhart Dental LLC --are scheduled for sentencing later this week.
Anyone who sees someone engaging in medical assistance fraud, or any type of fraud or criminality in a medical office, is encouraged to report the crime to the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit by calling 907-269-6279 or by filling out the online form (71KB PDF).
CONTACT: The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, in the Department of Law, Office of Special Prosecutions, at 907-269-6279. Copies of the charging documents filed in this case and other matters can be found at the Alaska Medicaid Fraud Control Unit website.
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Department Media Contacts: Communications Director Patty Sullivan at patty.sullivan@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6368. Information Officer Sam Curtis at sam.curtis@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6269.