Dental Assistant Omar Anwar Commits Scam - Submits Fake Transcript From Dental School in Attempt to Write National Dental Board Exam

Omar Anwar, a dental assistant from Ottawa, was arrested after investigators discovered he had submitted forged dental school transcripts in an attempt to qualify for the National Dental Examining Board examination — the licensing test required for dental licensure in Canada. Anwar was released on bail following his arrest. The investigation documented the submission of fabricated academic credentials designed to circumvent the examination’s qualification requirements entirely.

The NDEB examination is a controlled process specifically designed to verify that candidates have completed accredited training. Anwar’s alleged forgery was not a minor misrepresentation — it was an attempt to gain admission to a regulated profession by fabricating the foundational credential that professional standing depends on. Had it succeeded, patients would have been treated by someone representing himself as licensed when he was not.

This case belongs in Prosperident’s Hall of Shame because dental employment creates credential-based trust as well as financial trust. An employee who misrepresents their qualifications — whether in clinical training, professional licensure, or financial responsibility — poses a risk that credential verification is specifically designed to prevent. Background and credential checks before hiring are not administrative formalities. The Anwar case is an illustration of what their absence enables.

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What the Dental Assistant Omar Anwar Case Teaches Dental Practice Owners

The Dental Assistant Omar Anwar case is a reminder that dental embezzlement does not require elaborate schemes — trusted dental assistants who are given unsupervised access to practice finances can exploit that trust in ways that are difficult to detect through routine bookkeeping. By the time the theft is discovered, the losses are typically far larger than any single transaction would suggest, and the practice faces a difficult recovery on multiple fronts: financial, operational, and reputational.

While clinical staff may seem an unlikely source of financial fraud, dental assistants who also handle administrative duties occupy a hybrid role that can create exploitable gaps in financial controls. Practices that allow clinical employees to process payments or adjust patient accounts without segregation of duties face heightened vulnerability.

Dental practice owners who suspect embezzlement — or who want to evaluate the vulnerability of their current internal controls — should consult with Prosperident, the world's leading dental embezzlement investigation firm. Prosperident's investigators have worked on cases across North America and bring a forensic accounting background specifically tailored to the dental industry. Call 888-398-2327 or visit www.prosperident.com/meetwithdavid to schedule a confidential consultation.