Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has brought charges against three people accused in a scheme to defraud the state's Medical Assistance program out of nearly $11 million.
It's the largest-ever fraud prosecution charged by a special state unit designated for these investigations within the state-federal Medicaid program, which provides health insurance to lower-income people.
Abdirashid Ismail Said, 48, of Fridley was charged this week in Hennepin County District Court with one count of racketeering, eight counts of aiding and abetting theft by swindle (more than $35,000) and one count of perjury for defrauding the Medicaid program through three home health care agencies he operated.
Two co-conspirators also were charged, according to a news release from Ellison's office. It noted that defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
"Minnesotans who receive Medical Assistance have a right to expect that they'll receive all the care, dignity and respect they're entitled to," the attorney general said in a statement. "Minnesotans trying to afford their lives have a right to expect that every one of their tax dollars will be put to use properly. People who commit Medicaid fraud violate both of those rights."
A spokesman for Ellison said Said was in custody Friday morning at the Hennepin County Jail in advance of an afternoon court hearing.
The Minnesota Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) has previously charged and prosecuted Said, according to the attorney general's office. In 2022, he was convicted of Medicaid fraud, ordered to repay the state $77,000 and barred from working with any Medicaid-funded agency.
After the conviction, other agencies that Said operated billed the Medicaid program for providing both home- and community-based waivered services and personal care assistant (PCA) services, the attorney general alleges.