The Bronx dentist whose office manager was arrested on allegations that she worked on patients for cash while he was away from the office says he fired her when he got suspicious about mystery patients and curious phone calls.
The office manager, 45-year-old Valbona Yzeriraj, was arrested Thursday on a 13-count indictment alleging she practiced dentistry without a license, caused injury in some cases, including infections, and wrote herself a $20,000 check on the doctor's account after he fired her.
The woman who called herself Dr. Val to unsuspecting patients worked for Dr. Jeffrey Schoengold in Riverdale. Schoengold said he started getting phone calls on several occasions who only wanted to talk to "Dr. Val."
"There is no other dentist in this office but me. How is it possible I found things with people's names on it and I don't know who they are?" she said.
Prosecutors said Yzeriraj used dental tools to give anesthesia, fill and pull teeth, and even do root canals.
Schoengold said his former office manager told him she had been a dentist in her native Albania when he hired her off Craigslist back in 2009.
"There are people who come here from other countries, they come here and work as assistants and office managers. It's not uncommon," he said.
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It's unclear whether she had any Albanian dental training, but she was neither trained nor licensed to practice here.
Mike Campanelli, a patient of Schoengold, said it was "mindboggling how people can do that."
"I'm absolutely horrified," said a neighbor who heard details of the accusation against Yzeriraj.
The office manager allegedly saw patients between November 2012 and July 2013. She entered a plea of not guilty at her arraignment. If convicted, she faces up 7 years in prison.
