Two people are facing charges in Hennepin County, Minnesota, accused of defrauding Medicaid and stealing over $3 million between 2020 and 2024. 

Minnesota state prosecutors allege Mohamed Omarxeyd "engaged in an extensive plan" using Guardian Home Health Services to bill Medicaid for services that weren't provided. 

Court documents claim he encouraged employees "to bill as much as they could to make more money regardless of whether they performed the work." Prosecutors claim Omarxeyd also billed for daily services at times when clients were in jail or hospitalized and couldn't have received care. 

A second person, Maryan Garad, is also charged in the scheme and accused of aiding Omarxeyd in submitting fraudulent claims.

This case is separate from the federal fraud investigation ongoing in Minnesota and a fraction of what a U.S. prosecutor believes is the full extent of fraud in the state, which could total $9 billion or more. Federal prosecutors have not shared how they arrived at the estimate. 

On the state level, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison says he's prosecuted more than 300 cases and recovered over $80 million since taking office in 2019.

Though state lawmakers have accused Ellison and Gov. Tim Walz of failing to address the growing issue over the past several years. 

During a House Oversight Committee hearing at the beginning of January, Republican state Rep. Walter Hunsdon was asked how fraud became so widespread in Minnesota. 

"When people recognized that the system wasn't working and they raised those concerns, those concerns were ignored and a culture suppressing raising those concerns was fostered by the Walz administration," Hudson said in response. 

Both Walz and Ellison have been invited to testify at a hearing focused on fraud in February. Rep. James Comer, a Kentucky Republican and chairman of the committee, has said the committee would subpoena Walz and Ellison if they don't appear voluntarily. 

Less than a week ago, the Minnesota Department of Human Services, along with the federal government, announced it's planning to freeze new enrollments for 13 Medicaid services at high risk for fraud.

The state has also been directed to review and revalidate enrollment for providers in those categories.