Minnesota ‘outstanding refugee’ honoree charged in Medicaid fraud tied to trafficking case

A Minnesota man once celebrated by the state as an “outstanding refugee” has been charged with eight felony counts tied to a Medicaid fraud scheme, with prosecutors alleging some of his business associates are separately linked to a sex-trafficking operation.

Salman Ahmed Elmi, 30, of St. Paul, faces three counts of aiding and abetting theft by swindle and five counts of aiding and abetting theft by false representation, according to a criminal complaint filed in Ramsey County District Court. The charges stem from an alleged scheme to bill Medicaid for more than $1 million in services that were not provided or were ineligible, Fox News reported.

Mr. Elmi co-owned Reva Health, a Golden Valley company that billed Minnesota’s Medicaid program for adult rehabilitative mental health services, according to the complaint. Investigators with the state’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit allege Mr. Elmi and his co-conspirators falsified documentation, paid illegal kickbacks to recipients in exchange for using their personal information on false claims, and used unsupervised or unqualified staff to bill for services.

Two of Mr. Elmi’s associates in the case, former Anoka County prosecutor Andrea Sampson and Frank Devone Reeves, face separate charges in Hennepin County related to a sex-trafficking operation, Fox 9 Minneapolis first reported. Prosecutors allege some individuals connected to that trafficking case were also used to support fraudulent Medicaid billing.

In 2021, the Minnesota Department of Human Services honored Mr. Elmi with its “outstanding refugee” title and an Entrepreneurship Award. News of the charges spread quickly on social media, drawing sharp criticism from conservative commentators who pointed to the same agency having awarded Mr. Elmi recognition while also administering the Medicaid program.

A DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital the Outstanding Refugee Awards program, which offered recipients only a certificate and plaque with no monetary prize, ended in 2024, adding that Mr. Elmi’s alleged conduct “does not represent Minnesota’s refugee community.”

Mr. Elmi’s case is the latest to emerge from a broader Minnesota fraud crisis. Federal prosecutors estimate fraud across the state’s Medicaid and social-service programs could total more than $9 billion since 2018 — a figure derived from an assessment that roughly half of the $18 billion billed across 14 “high-risk” programs may be fraudulent. Gov. Tim Walz and state Medicaid officials have disputed the estimate as “sensationalized,” saying DHS has documented evidence of fraud only in the tens of millions of dollars to date. Much of the scrutiny has centered on the Twin Cities’ Somali immigrant community, and Walz dropped his re-election bid amid the fallout.

Mr. Elmi made his first court appearance Monday. He was ordered held on $1 million bail, according to the complaint.