Special to the News
Attorney General Steve Marshall announced Tuesday that a former employee of the Alabama Medicaid Agency has been convicted for the theft of more than $100,000 in public funds.
Natalie Colette Lewis, 60, of Montgomery, pleaded guilty to aggravated theft of property before Montgomery County Circuit Judge Brooke Reid. Sentencing is set for October 2.
Lewis faces up to 30 years imprisonment, a $60,000 fine and forfeiture of her state retirement benefits.
Lewis had been employed as a Medical Care Benefits Specialist, assigned to the Medicaid Agency’s Non-Emergency Transportation Division, since 2006. Lewis had three prior felony convictions when she went to work for the agency, after lying on her state application for employment by stating that she had no prior convictions. She subsequently received a restoration of rights pardon in 2017 for those convictions.
While employed at the agency, Lewis was responsible for processing claims to reimburse Medicaid recipients for expenses incurred for their travel to medical visits. From December 2019 to November 2024, Lewis entered 1,631 claims for transportation expenses on behalf of her son, a Medicaid recipient, for medical appointments that never took place.
In total, Lewis received $103,413.26 for these fraudulent claims and spent the money on personal expenditures.
“Public service is a responsibility, not a personal financial opportunity. When employees violate that duty for personal gain, it is a direct assault on the taxpayers of Alabama,” stated Attorney General Marshall. “We will continue to hold anyone accountable who defrauds the system, exploits taxpayer resources, or undermines the integrity of public trust.”
The Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigated the matter after the theft was discovered by the Medicaid Agency. Attorney General Marshall thanked officials at the agency for their quick action in reporting the theft after it had been discovered. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Nathan Mays.
The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit receives 75 percent of its funding – $1.2 million in FY2024 – through an annual grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Office of Inspector General.
