Healthcare

Minnesota Man Once Praised As ‘Outstanding Refugee’ Now Faces Charges In Alleged Medicaid Fraud Case

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A man previously recognized as an “outstanding refugee” by the Minnesota Department of Human Services has been charged over an alleged Medicaid fraud scheme, according to news coverage.

Democratic Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced Monday that his Medicaid Fraud Control Unit had charged two men for allegedly stealing more than $1.5 million from the state’s Medicaid program. Salman Ahmed Elmi was charged in the first case with 8 felony theft offenses linked to Reva Health allegedly billing over $1,000,000 in Medicaid-funded services that were either never provided or were ineligible for reimbursement, per the announcement.

Elmi previously received the “Outstanding Refugee Award for Entrepreneurship” from the Minnesota DHS, CBS News reported, citing state records.

Elmi operated Reva Health in Golden Valley, Minnesota from 2024 to 2026, per the press release. While Reva claimed to give Medicaid recipients adult rehabilitative mental health services (ARMHS), Elmi and other co-conspirators allegedly fabricated documents in order to acquire Medicaid reimbursement, told employees to pay recipients illegal kickbacks in exchange for their permission to utilize their personal information in support of such false claims for Medicaid reimbursements, according to the announcement.

Additionally, Elmi and his co-conspirators allegedly utilized ineligible providers to provide ARMHS to recipients and also “falsely claimed to have provided ARMHS with adequate supervision when there was little to no supervision actually provided,” the news release says. Authorities said that some of Elmi’s alleged co-conspirators also have ties to a sex trafficking ring bust that took place last week, Fox 9 reported.

In the second case, Mohamed Haji Rashid is now facing nine felony theft charges due to his company allegedly billing Medicaid for over $300,000 in services that were either not provided or were otherwise unfit for reimbursement, according to the press release.

Ellison wrote in a Monday X post that “Medicaid dollars are meant to provide healthcare to low-income Minnesotans — not line the pockets of fraudsters.”

“If you try to cheat Minnesotans, we will find you, and we will hold you accountable,” he added.

In July, the Department of Health and Human Services notably announced it was deferring over $1 billion in Medicaid payments to Minnesota and California amid the administration’s push to stamp out healthcare fraud in the U.S.