Secret Service probing Select Dental

Customers were apparently billed for exorbitant fees - as much as $25,000, all up front - for poor and incomplete dental work. Then the company skipped town.

The Secret Service, known primarily for protecting the President, is involved in the case because it also is in charge of investigating counterfeiting and financial crimes that cross state borders.

The masterminds behind the alleged scheme were Gary Anusavice - a dentist whose license was suspended in Rhode Island in 2005 - and his associates, Joseph Robbio and Mike Rinaldi.

"They wanted to get people financed and then get rid of them," Linda Donnaruma, a former clerk in the Howard Beach office, told The News. "These people had bank accounts everywhere."

Select Dental was incorporated in June 2005 in Delaware under the name NYDSS Inc., with headquarters in Rhode Island.