The Islander,
Dr. Michael Dattoli, 64, of Anna Maria, faced formal arraignment Jan. 21 in Sarasota County court for allegedly obtaining a controlled substance by fraud, criminal use of personal identification information and false and fraudulent insurance claims.
Sarasota police arrested Dattoli Dec. 16, 2021.
He pleaded not guilty Dec. 21, 2021, and requested a trial date, according to court records.
The law enforcement investigation dates back more than a year and involved Sarasota police and the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office Pharmaceutical Diversion Unit, which informed the SPD of a prescription fraud case that happened in 2019 and 2020 involving Dattoli.
Investigators with SCSO said two pharmacies involved were in the city and that prescriptions for Diazepam, a controlled substance, were filled three times under Dattoli’s wife’s name, according to the SPD.
The prescriptions were filled and picked up by Dattoli, who provided his driver’s license as identification, according to SPD.
A victim of the alleged fraud, who worked at the Dattoli Cancer Center, told SPD that during a check of his controlled substance database, he noticed fraudulent prescriptions written in 2020.
Later, paperwork for the drugs was submitted to Florida Blue for insurance coverage.
Dattoli faces charges of three counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud, three counts of criminal use of personal identification information and three counts of insurance fraud.
News article: https://www.islander.org/2022/01/anna-maria-resident-sarasota-physician-arraigned-on-fraud-charges/