Colorado Springs woman charged with stealing $240K from Medicaid in fraudulent billing
May 19, 2022 (DENVER)—Attorney General Phil Weiser today announced that the Colorado Department of Law has filed charges against a Colorado Springs woman for submitting Medicaid claims and being paid for psychological testing services that never happened.
An investigation by the department’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit found that between Aug. 25, 2017, and Feb. 26, 2021, Martha Sutherland, operator of Front Range Mental Health and Summit Assessments in Colorado Springs, routinely filed claims and received Medicaid reimbursement for pre-bariatric surgery mental health assessments that were not provided. According to the arrest warrant affidavit filed in El Paso County District Court, Sutherland also billed for the same service multiple times. The total value of theft is $240,000.
Sutherland is charged with theft, a class three felony, and cybercrime, a class four felony.
“Medicaid provides essential health care services for many of our state’s most vulnerable residents,” Weiser said. “We will hold accountable those who would take advantage of this system for their own gain and, in turn, take resources away from those in need.”
The case is filed in El Paso County District Court and the case number is 2022CR2313.
The Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit is dedicated to protecting the integrity of the system that provides healthcare to the most vulnerable Coloradans. It accomplishes this through the investigation and prosecution of Medicaid provider fraud as well as the investigation and prosecution of the abuse and neglect of Medicaid clients in non-institutional settings as well as the abuse and neglect of patients in institutions that receive Medicaid dollars. To report potential Medicaid fraud, click here or call (720) 508-6696.
The filing of criminal charges is merely a formal accusation that an individual committed a crime under Colorado laws. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
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