Kansas Attorney General’s office

TOPEKA – Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt today announced that his office has recovered more than $357 million on behalf of Kansas consumers and taxpayers during his first three years in office, an amount unprecedented in the history of the Kansas attorney general’s office.

The total reflects funds recovered from 2011 through 2013 by Schmidt’s consumer protection division, Medicaid fraud and abuse division and tobacco enforcement unit.

“We have made it a priority to return money wrongfully taken from consumers and from the state treasury, which of course means ultimately from the taxpayers,” Schmidt said.

Under Schmidt’s leadership, the consumer protection division in the attorney general’s office has recovered a three-year total of $109 million, including a single-year record $49.6 million in 2013. In the first two and a half state fiscal years since Schmidt took office, the Medicaid fraud and abuse division has recovered $65 million, including a record $33.7 million in state fiscal year 2013. Medicaid fraud recoveries for state fiscal year 2014 will be reported later this year.

The tobacco enforcement unit has recovered $183 million over three years, and Schmidt has worked to stabilize the state’s tobacco settlement payments by resolving a decade of lingering disputes with the tobacco manufacturers regarding enforcement of the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement.

“I appreciate the professional work of our team in making these recoveries possible,” Schmidt said. “The credit belongs to the dedicated public servants whose day-to-day work in the attorney general’s office has produced these solid results.”