Claims mirror $1 billion Minnesota scheme; electronic billing manipulation alleged.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
A former employee has accused a Somali-owned healthcare company in Maine of defrauding the state’s Medicaid program through falsified billing practices similar to those that fueled a $1 billion welfare scandal in Minnesota.
Christopher Bernardini, who worked as a billing specialist for Gateway Community Services, told NewsNation that the company routinely billed MaineCare for services never delivered. He said he was instructed to charge the state for hours that field staff did not actually work.
“When I had clients calling me to tell me their staff hadn’t shown up and I was told to bill those hours anyway—it just got worse and worse until I started really putting up a stink,” Bernardini said.
Documents obtained through a Freedom of Access Act request by The Maine Wire show Gateway Community Services received nearly $28.8 million in Medicaid payments from the state. Bernardini alleged that the company’s electronic monitoring system was manipulated to make it appear that caregivers had made required visits when they had not.
Company owner Abdullahi Ali has drawn additional scrutiny for reportedly running for office in Somalia’s Jubaland region and boasting of financing a local militia, The Maine Wire previously reported.
The controversy comes amid federal probes into widespread fraud in Minnesota’s social-services sector, where Somali-run nonprofits are accused of siphoning at least $1 billion in taxpayer funds—some allegedly linked to the terrorist group Al-Shabaab. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has surged operations in the Minneapolis area to target illegal immigrants involved in the schemes.
State employees have accused Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of retaliating against whistleblowers who exposed the fraud. In a recent interview, Walz admitted the state “attracts criminals” but cautioned against demonizing Somali residents.
Meanwhile, Maine Democrats have attacked Republican gubernatorial candidate Bobby Charles for highlighting the MaineCare fraud allegations, labeling his comments racist.
Gateway Community Services and the Maine Department of Health and Human Services have not responded to media inquiries about the case.
Original article
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