Woman charged with enteral fraud scheme
By HME News Staff
Updated 8:24 AM CDT, Mon August 19, 2024
DENVER – Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser has filed fraud and theft charges against a woman in an alleged Medicaid fraud scheme that cost taxpayers more than $1.2 million in losses. Natasha Sawyer is accused of submitting false claims when she worked as a Medicaid biller for Element Medical Supply, a DME company. An investigation by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Colorado Department of Law found that from May 2020 to March 2021, Sawyer allegedly submitted false claims for enteral formula. While she billed millions of calories of formula, only about 5% of the product billed to Medicaid was delivered to patients. Investigators were able to link a username and IP addresses used to submit the claims in question to Sawyer’s location and identity. She is charged with Medicaid fraud and waste false claims of $1 million or more and cybercrime theft of $1 million or more, both class two felonies. The case is filed in Denver County District Court, case number 24CR04818. The filing of criminal charges is a formal accusation that an individual committed a crime under Colorado law; all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
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