COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A Colorado man was sentenced to eight years of probation after pleading guilty to Medicaid fraud, according to Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser.
Gulong Craft, 57, racked up more than $120,000 through illegally billing Medicaid for his patients with development disabilities between 2020 and 2023. He was ordered to pay that full amount as restitution.
Craft owns the company Craft Care LLC. He enrolled the business with the the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF) to provide care for patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
HCPF asked the Colorado Department of Law to look into the company, and further investigation found neither Craft nor his spouse claimed any wages from Craft Care LLC. Investigators found a suspicious number of denied claims that continued for years, which they suspected was due to intentional fraud. They interviewed company caretakers for the Medicaid patients with disabilities, Craft's family and Craft. They found, he billed Medicaid for services long after he stopped providing care. He also failed to keep any records.
Weiser released the following statement regarding this incident:
“The biggest victims of Medicaid fraud are usually low-income patients who lean on Medicaid for critical health care services. 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.”
Coloradans who suspect or have direct knowledge of Medicaid fraud, or any other type of fraud or scam, are encouraged to file a complaint with the attorney general here.