Eight people are accused of defrauding Medicaid in a scheme that allegedly involved false or unnecessary claims for reimbursement for transportation or interpreter services for hundreds of Somali Americans from Faribault.
In some cases, the drivers and translators allegedly stole identities to submit false claims. Other cases allegedly involved other billing fraud, such as recruiting people to travel to the Twin Cities for medical services they did not need. The charges allege a total of nearly $2.6 million in fraudulent claims.
Nasro Aden Takhal, 42, of Minneapolis, allegedly was the ringleader. Six of the seven alleged co-conspirators are Faribault residents.
They face a collective 67 felony charges filed by the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office Friday afternoon in Rice County District Court.
The defendants have not been arrested. They were issued summons to make first court appearances in July.
The charges are part of a multiyear, multi-agency investigation, according to a news release from the Attorney General’s Office. Nine people have already been convicted, including a chiropractor, a therapist and an acupuncturist who reportedly were involved in the alleged scheme. Others have been charged and more charges are expected, according to the release.
The new charges involve billings to Medicaid for services supposedly provided by independent drivers who take patients to medical appointments and by translators who provide language translation for patients.
Takhal worked for two interpreter agencies until she was banned by UCare (Minnesota’s Medicaid provider) in 2019 for suspected fraudulent activity. The charges outline a long list of alleged subsequent fraud by Takhal, drivers and translators.
The court documents say Faribault was targeted because it is the maximum distance from the Twin Cities for which Medicaid will pay for transportation without pre-approval.
Tahhal “conspired as part of a vast criminal enterprise to defraud the Medicaid program and submit fraudulent provider, transportation and interpreter claims,” states the court complaint in her case. “Takhal further victimized hundreds of Somali American Faribault residents by unlawfully using their identities in the scheme to submit fraudulent Medicaid claims.”
Investigators allegedly found evidence that many of the trips and translation service claims submitted for reimbursement never occurred.
For example, while receiving compensation from a Twin Cities transportation company, Takhal allegedly used the identities of other interpreters to schedule rides that never occurred to a therapy clinic owned by the sister of the owner of the transportation company.
In other cases, investigators allegedly found that Takhal and drivers who worked with her had recruited Somali Faribault residents to go to the Twin Cities for medical care they did not need, including acupuncture and massages.
Many times the recruited residents were transported in groups while Medicaid was billed as if they had each been transported individually, the investigation determined.
THE DEFENDANTS Nasro Aden Takhal, 42, of Minneapolis, is charged with felony racketeering, felony and misdemeanor counts of identity theft, multiple felony counts of aiding and abetting theft by swindle, and multiple felony counts of aiding and abetting theft by false representation Three suspects are each charged with felony racketeering, and multiple felony counts of aiding and abetting theft by swindle and aiding and abetting theft by false representation: Fardosa Ali Ibrahim, 44, of Faribault Bashir Aden Bare, 59, of Faribault Warfa Osman Mohomud, 37, of Faribault Four suspects are charged with multiple felonies for aiding and abetting identity theft, and/or aiding and abetting theft by false representation: Omar Abdi Ahmed, 35, of Faribault Amal Mohamed Budul, 42, of Eden Prairie Kalif Abdi Madobe, 40, of Faribault Bishara Salat Abdirahman, 26, of Faribault da1bc9fa-fafd-4432-b26c-b4b1b803099e
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