Man Accused of Impersonating Doctor, Defrauding TennCare

A man was indicted in Winchester, Tenn. last week on charges of impersonating a doctor and defrauding insurance companies for six years while working at his father’s practice.

Dennis Charles “Chuck” Arellano was indicted May 1 on one count of theft over $60,000, one count of TennCare fraud, and one count of impersonation of a licensed professional, according to a release from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Arellano graduated from medical school but did not pass examinations to get his license to practice before working at the Huntsville practice belonging to his father, Dr. Bernard Arellano.
Witnesses told TBI and TennCare investigators that the younger Arellano often worked by himself, caring for and diagnosing patients from 1998 to 2004.

The practice closed in 2004 and his father died in 2005.

Investigators found that during the six years Arellano saw patients, the practice collected more than $1 million from TennCare and private insurance companies, the TBI said.