Maine: Somali refugees charged with
welfare fraud, by Ann Corcoran 5/27/18
What else is new! The only thing new is the change in
location from Minnesota to Maine and this time it is Medicaid fraud and not daycare fraud.
This news is from the Somali capital of Maine—Lewiston—and from
earlier this month. Tip of the iceberg? From the Sun Journal (hat tip Frank):
PORTLAND — Two men from the Twin Cities charged
with welfare fraud appeared in federal court Monday seeking release from jail.
No mugshots of Ahmed and
Osman that I could find, but figured this older photo would suffice to
illustrate the story!
At an afternoon hearing, U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge
John Rich III ordered Abdirashid Ahmed, 38, of Lewiston released on $5,000 bond
after seizing his passport.
Rich said Ahmed would be equipped with an electronic monitoring
device to ensure he does not leave Androscoggin County.
Ahmed was kept Monday night in federal custody at Cumberland
County Jail. He was expected to be escorted Tuesday morning to Lewiston and
released into the custody of the U.S. Probation Office. He must get permission
from that office if he were to seek to leave Androscoggin County in the future,
Rich said.
Garat Osman, 32, of Auburn appeared in the same courtroom after
Ahmed. Dylan Boyd, who represented Osman on Monday agreed to continue Osman’s
detention hearing to Thursday, giving Osman time to hire a lawyer. It also gave
the court time to consider Osman’s financial declaration form that he signed
earlier under the penalty of perjury.
Rich said he was concerned about inconsistencies between that
document and Osman’s tax returns from last year.
Ahmed and Osman wore orange jail suits and were
handcuffed to a belly belt and shackled at the ankles.
More than two dozen men and women from the Somali
community sat in the gallery to show their support for the two men.
Ahmed and Osman were arrested last week, each
charged with health care fraud involving MaineCare – Maine’s Medicaid program –
and receiving health care kickbacks for more than two years. Strange that the health
care provider they worked for is not named.
Both men are accused of referring MaineCare beneficiaries to an
unnamed (in the indictment) health care provider and served as Somali
interpreters, according to investigators.
The indictment also said from May 2015 to December
2017, Ahmed and Osman conspired to defraud MaineCare by billing the program for
interpreting services not rendered or partially rendered.
Fraudulent bills were submitted to MaineCare that
overstated the health and interpreter services provided. MaineCare reimbursed
the provider based upon that fraudulent billing, according to the indictment.
If convicted, Ahmed and Osman each faces up to 10 years in
prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. If convicted,
each may also be ordered to pay restitution to MaineCare.
There
is another story the Portland Press Herald with
a few more details. Click here for my Lewiston archive and here for past posts on Maine.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody
GA Tea Party Leader
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