Two employees of wheelchair companies have been ordered to pay thousands of dollars in restitution for running Medicaid fraud scams.
Cortney Ileane Miller, 55, who worked in an Adams County wheelchair supply company partially owned by her husband, was ordered to pay more than $23,000 in restitution, perform 100 hours of public service and placed on five years of probation by Denver District Judge Christina Habas.
According to court documents, Miller, now living in Texas, received an invoice from a supplier for an expensive power wheelchair. She modified the invoice and included it as support for several bills that she submitted to the Colorado Medicaid program for other clients.
Investigators said most of the bills were for much less expensive equipment, but Miller claimed the high price supported by the false documentation for the expensive wheelchair.
Mike Saccone, spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office, said Miller worked for Physicians Choice Medical, located in unincorporated Adams County.
Saccone said Physicians Choice Medical is under new ownership and has no ties to Miller.
In an unrelated case, Michelle Riley, 41, a former co-worker of Miller, pleaded guilty in Denver District Court to theft and forgery, stemming from charges that she submitted several false Medicaid bills to the state.
Riley was ordered to pay restitution of more than $63,000 and, like Miller, was placed on five years of probation.
Investigators said that Riley, owner of Denver-based Innovative Seating, submitted bills to Medicaid for three wheelchairs that were never supplied to the recipients, and over-billed for three other wheelchairs and one power scooter.
Riley also falsified wheelchair repair records to collect for repairs that did not occur. Innovative Seating has gone out of business, Saccone said.
Riley and Miller had worked together in the past, but their crimes appeared unrelated, said Colorado Attorney General John Suthers.
“These cases should send the message that we will not tolerate fraud that takes money away from health care for the neediest citizens of Colorado,” said Suthers.
The cases were investigated and prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
