Colorado Springs man sentenced for felony Medicaid fraud

DENVER, Colo. (KRDO) – A Colorado Springs man who pleaded guilty to felony Medicare fraud in October will serve eight years of probation, Attorney General Phil Weiser said.

According to the Attorney General's office, 57-year-old Gulong Craft falsified medical mills to steal $122,441 between 2020 and 2023.

Along with probation, Craft was also ordered to pay that full amount in restitution.

Last year, Medicaid fraud investigators were referred to him after the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF) discovered illegal Medicaid billing from Craft's company, Craft Care, LLC.

The company was enrolled with HCPF to provide care for Medicaid patients who have intellectual or developmental disabilities.

The AG said the investigation found the company had little to no footprint online and neither Craft nor his spouse claimed any wages from the company. A deeper inspection of Craft’s billing claims showed a suspicious number of denied claims.

Because these denied claims continued for years, investigators found this was likely due to intentional fraud, rather than unintentional errors. 

A thorough dive into Craft's billing claims discovered that he billed for services long after he stopped providing care for the clients. In one case, for years. Craft also failed to keep records as required under his agreement with HCPF.

“The biggest victims of Medicaid fraud are usually low-income patients who lean on Medicaid for critical health care services,” AG Phil Weiser said in a Wednesday press release. “In this case, the defendant’s crimes exploited people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We will remain vigilant in our commitment to protecting Medicaid patients and taxpayers, holding providers who break the law accountable, and recovering fraudulent payments.”