Topeka ? Attorney General Steve Six expects another record year in recovering dollars from Medicaid and consumer fraud.

“There will always be companies or individuals who try to cut corners at the expense of taxpayers,” Six said Monday. “Outside of prosecuting criminals, there is no greater financial responsibility for the attorney general’s office than protecting Kansas taxpayers from financial fraud,” he said.

Through the first six months of the current fiscal year, which started July 1, the attorney general’s Medicaid Fraud Division has recovered $19.6 million, and the Consumer Protection Division, $5.8 million.

Both figures are expected to increase as additional recoveries are made in the first months of 2011, Six said.

The largest recoveries in the Consumer Protection Division have been from companies attempting to mislead homeowners in buying faulty mortgages or loan modifications. The Medicaid Fraud Division’s recoveries have been through settlements with drug companies selling products to the Kansas Medicaid Program.

During the last year fiscal year, the Medicaid Fraud Division recovered $22 million, and the Consumer Protection Division, $17.3 million, which were both records.