Fraud Charge Filed Against Tulsa Dentist Already Charged With Murder

Tulsa County prosecutors charged Tulsa dentist Bert Franklin Tuesday with fraud.

Oklahoma County prosecutors charged Bert Franklin last month with first-degree murder in the death of 19-month-old Lincoln Lewis.

8/5/2016: Related Story: Tulsa Dentist Charged In OKC Child's Death To Ask For Bond

Investigators now say he bilked a customer out of tens of thousands of dollars. They say he asked a patient to borrow $15,000 to buy a piece of dental equipment and she agreed because she had known him for years. They say she gave him her credit card number over the phone, but later learned he made three charges to her card totally $80,000.

This is new legal trouble for a man already charged with murder of a 19-month-old baby, the son of his girlfriend; but investigators say Franklin had trouble even before this.

Records show in 2010, the dental board suspended his license for 90 days, fined him $6,000 and put him on four years’ probation because he was sedating patients without a license.

Plus, investigators say three of Franklin's employees have recently been in trouble with the law.

They say Paige Maples is charged with practicing dentistry in Franklin's office without a license, and Sadie Height is charged with forging prescriptions as well.

Right now, Franklin's office is closed, leaving patients like Kyle Bloomer wondering what to do. Bloomer said he has been a patient of Franklin for five years and recently paid $3,500 for transparent braces. Bloomer said if he can't get his money back he'd like to have the braces, or even his dental records, which Oklahoma law guarantees.

"It's very frustrating," Bloomer said.

The Oklahoma Dentistry Board said anyone who needs their records or is owed money by Franklin needs to fill out a complaint form. They will do what they have to to get the records.

Oklahoma Board Of Dentistry Complaint Form: