Mass. Man Pleads Not Guilty to Broken Tooth Insurance Charges

A Massachusetts man has pleaded not guilty to pocketing $36,000 in insurance payments by filing 21 fake injury claims for the same broken tooth.

Tod Schaffer of Brookline was released on personal recognizance after pleading not guilty on this week to charges of insurance fraud, larceny and attempted larceny.

Schaffer injured a tooth by biting into a piece of plastic in his salad at a restaurant in October 2002. The eatery paid the costs of his treatment.

Prosecutors say the 42-year-old Schaffer then filed 21 injury claims against other restaurants, using information from the legitimate incident. Prosecutors say he received payment in 10 of those cases.

Schaffer’s attorney, Robert Allen Jr., says he is still reviewing documents from the case.