Abdirashid Ismail Said was the centerpiece of Attorney General Keith X. Ellison’s attempt to pretend that he was also being tough on Somali fraud.
Since Said had already been convicted of Medicaid fraud in 2022, he should never have been allowed to bill Medicaid for anything. And once he was charged, he should never have been released on bail.
But he was and did and now he’s on the run, and we’re all supposed to pretend that Ellison tried really hard and just couldn’t figure things out.
The Minnesota Attorney General announced in December 2023 that Said is responsible for the largest-ever Medicaid fraud case charged by the Minnesota Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Said is accused of racketeering, perjury and several counts of aiding and abetting theft by swindle.
Investigators say Said defrauded the state’s Medicaid program through his operation of three Medicaid-funded home health care agencies: Faym Health, Prestige Health and Minnesota Home Health Care.
Two others involved in the alleged scheme, Ali Abdirizak Ahmed and Said Awil Ibrahim, were each charged with racketeering and aiding and abetting theft by swindle.
Now you see him, now he’s back in Somalia.
Authorities are searching for a man accused of being the “principal actor” in a Medicaid fraud scheme that defrauded Minnesota taxpayers out of nearly $11 million after he failed to appear in court.
Why would a man who had a family in Kenya (many Somali refugee camps are based there) ever have gotten bail at all? Same reason he was able to keep on charging Medicaid.
