Wyckoff Dentist Sentenced to 21 Months for Tax Evasion Scam

A dentist from Mahwah who pleaded guilty earlier this year to running a $2 million dental scam was sentenced to 21 months in prison, US Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced in a release Wednesday.

Stephen A Beukas, 47, owned three dental practices in the mid 2000’s, one in Wyckoff, one in Colts Neck, and one mobile dental unit that serviced senior citizens living in nursing homes.

Beukas evaded paying over $800K in owed taxes, and failed to disclose $1.3 million in income he earned during 2008, when he filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy on the practices - Stephen Beukas, DMD, New Jersey Mobile Dental Practice PA, and Mobile Dental Practice PC, according to the release.

Beukas pleaded guilty earlier this year to tax evasion and bankruptcy fraud, Fishman said.

Wednesday, Judge Renee Marie Bumb also sentenced Beukas to two years of probation, fined him $50,000 and ordered him to pay $69,883 in restitution to the bankruptcy trustee for distribution to creditors.

In February, Beukas and several other dentists and office employees were indicted on Medicaid fraud charges.

Special agents of the IRS and the Newark Office of the US Trustee led the investigation, in coordination with President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. The Force was created, “to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes,” and better coordinate local, state and federal agencies in investigating these types of crimes, the release said.