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Denver woman charged with defrauding Medicaid out of $1.2 million

A Denver woman allegedly submitted more than $1.2 million in bills to Medicaid for a specialized nutrition formula that never went to patients.

Attorney General Phil Weiser announced Wednesday that his office had filed charges against Natasha Sawyer, 44, in Denver District Court. He alleged that Sawyer had billed the state’s Medicaid program for large amounts of formula used in feeding tubes, but that only about 5% of that amount actually went to patients.

The attorney general’s office charged Sawyer with filing false claims and cybercrime involving more than $1 million. Both charges are felonies.

Sawyer allegedly filed false claims while working for Element Medical Supply, a Denver-based medical equipment company, from May 2020 to March 2021. Element didn’t respond to a message left at its number.

The Denver Post called three numbers listed for Sawyer and texted one. Two numbers had a recording stating they weren’t accepting calls, and one said the mailbox was full and couldn’t accept messages.

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