Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake man used 26 aliases to illegally obtain 68 controlled substances from medical facilities across Utah over a nine-month period, prosecutors allege.
Mirzet Bajrovic, 26, of Salt Lake City, was charged Wednesday in 3rd District Court with five counts of theft of services. One count was charged as a second-degree felony; two as a third-degree felony; and two as a class A misdemeanor.
The investigation began in October 2015 at Davis Hospital and Medical Center in Layton. Bajrovic attempted to receive treatment twice that day, according to the charges, but a doctor caught the inconsistencies of his identification.
Soon, investigators received complaints from the dental clinic and emergency room at the University of Utah Dental Clinic and Lakeview Hospital. As investigators began to more closely review Bajrovic's records, they learned "from the DOPL reports (Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing) … that Bajrovic used 26 aliases, was treated by 62 prescribers and received 68 controlled substances within nine months," according to charging documents.
"I collected evidence and documents which show that Bajrovic devised a scheme to seek medical treatment at emergency rooms throughout the state of Utah, complaining of tooth pain," the lead investigator wrote in charging documents.
Bajrovic fraudulently received more than $19,000 in medical services by giving false names that were all slight variations of his real name, and false dates of birth, the charges state. More than $10,000 of services were obtained at University of Utah Health Care, Intermountain Medical Center, Jordan Valley Medical Center, Salt Lake Regional Medical Center, Monarch Dental Riverdale and Utah Smile Care in Salt Lake County, according to court records.
An additional $4,400 of medical services were fraudulently obtained at Ogden Regional Medical Center and McKay-Dee Hospital, according to the charges; another $2,500 at Brigham City Community Hospital in Box Elder County; and more than $1,000 at Uintah Basin Medical Center in Duchesne County.
The charges come a day after Bajrovic was scheduled to be sentenced in Utah County on convictions of misdemeanor attempted forgery and giving false ID to a police officer, according to court records.
