‘Outstanding’ Minnesota refugee from Somalia once honored by the state faces charges in $4.5M Medicaid, sex-trafficking scheme

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An alleged Minnesota fraudster once hailed as an “outstanding refugee” by the state was reportedly part of a massive Medicaid fraud and sex trafficking ring that swindled victims out of over $4.5 million. 

Salman Ahmed Elmi, who was honored by the state’s Department of Human Services in 2021 with the Outstanding Refugee Award for Entrepreneurship, was slapped with a total of eight counts of aiding and abetting theft last week, the National Review reported.

Prosecutors said Elmi, an immigrant from Somalia, was one of four associates who ran four phony agencies in Minnesota — Reva Health, Reva Autism, Helpful Housing, Homefelt Assisted Living — that scammed the government health care program out of more than $4.5 million since 2023. 

Elmi himself billed Medicaid for more than $1 million in unprovided or illegible services, according to prosecutors. 

Meanwhile, Elmi and his associates — Frank Reeves, Viktoriya Komonash and Andrea Sampson –were also running a related pay-for-sex scheme, where they would recruit homeless and drug-addicted young women and rent apartments in their name, according to prosecutors. 

The crew would then steal the identities of the men paying for sex and bill Medicaid in their names, court records show. 

Investigators had been tracking the pay-for-sex con since 2019, prosecutors said. 

Sampson and Reeves were busted for their role in the sex trafficking ring last week, the outlet reported.

Elmi, meanwhile, had been championed by Minnesota’s Department of Human Services as a rags-to-riches story of refugee success in the state. 

The alleged fraudster had started a business “to help inspire other people” in a since-deleted profile celebrating him as an “outstanding refugee” on the state’s website. 

Besides helping to create the bogus businesses used to rip off Medicaid, Elmi was also the founder of Tavolo, an AI marketing app for restaurants.

Elmi’s partial ownership in Tavolo allowed him to secure a loan and start Reva Health, one of the fake agencies, the National Review reported.  

He was released from custody on Monday, but was required to give up his passport and remain in the state. He’s due back in court on Oct. 4. 

The arrests come amid an ongoing scandal in the state where investigators believe they have uncovered billions of dollars in welfare fraud.