BOSTON -- A Brookline man was accused Thursday of filing 21 fake injury reports for the same broken tooth, according to Attorney General Martha Coakley.

In October 2002, Tod Schaffer injured a tooth by biting into a piece of plastic in his salad at a local restaurant. His dentist treated him for the injury, and he received a dental estimate for the cost of treating the injury. Schaffer submitted the estimate to the restaurant where the injury occurred and received full payment for his injury one week later.

Nearly five years later, the Massachusetts Insurance Fraud Bureau that was notified by an investigator for the Great American Insurance Company, who found that several restaurant claims for the same broken tooth all contained identical personal information allegedly belonging to Schaffer.

Coakley said that investigators discovered on various dates between November 2002 and May 2006, Schaffer allegedly submitted 19 false injury claims to insurance companies, and two additional claims to a self-insured entity.

Authorities believe that the false claims allegedly contained the same information from Schaffer's legitimate tooth injury claim from October 2002. Officials said Schaffer allegedly altered the manner in which the injury occurred on the claims by reporting that he injured his tooth by biting into a rock, a stone or plastic, while eating at numerous Boston area restaurants.

Of the alleged false claims submitted by Schaffer, 10 of them were paid out, resulting in over $36,000 in false payments to Schaffer. Officials said Schaffer allegedly withdrew his claims at nine restaurants and that an additional two restaurants denied his claim.

A Suffolk County Grand Jury returned indictments Thursday against Schaffer, who was charged with 19 counts of insurance fraud, larceny over $250 and attempted larceny over $250. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court on Feb. 24.