St. Paul man charged in Medicaid fraud scheme tied to people accused of running sex trafficking ring
A 30-year-old man charged in a Medicaid fraud scheme is linked to several people accused of running a sex trafficking operation in Hennepin County, Minnesota, according to court documents.
Salman Ahmed Elmi of St. Paul, Minnesota, is charged with three counts of aiding and abetting theft by swindle and five counts of aiding and abetting theft by false representation, a criminal complaint filed in Ramsey County said. State records show he was previously given the Outstanding Refugee Award for Entrepreneurship by the Minnesota Department of Human Services.
Elmi, Frank Reeves, Viktoriya Komonash and Andrea Sampson are accused of running four agencies: Reva Health, Reva Autism, Helpful Housing and Homefelt Assisted Living. The complaint says they billed more than $4.5 million to Medicaid since 2023.
According to the court document, the fraud scheme started with recruiting young women who were homeless or struggling with addiction, housing or finances. From there, they would rent apartments in their names using fake pay stubs and enroll them in a pay for sex scheme that investigators say they've tracked since 2019.
The complaint says Elmi and the three others then began stealing victims' identities to bill Medicaid in their name.
Elmi got a loan and incorporated Reva Health and has since transferred nearly $150,000 from those accounts to his own business, the court document says.
A warrant was issued for Elmi's arrest Thursday, and he was later taken into custody, online court records show. He was released Monday after a judge ordered him to surrender his passport and remain in Minnesota. His next court hearing is set for Oct. 4.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty says Reeves, Sampson and Komonash were taken into custody without incident on Friday.
"It's incredibly significant. It's also very indicative of what trafficking is as a whole," Heidi Kleg said.
Kleg works for Breaking Free, a Minnesota group that helps people escape trafficking. She says she believes the arrests are just the tip of the iceberg.
"These are not gangs; they're not scary people ripping people off the street. These are people that you work with every day. They're people living in our communities, that are living next door to us, that participate in these things," Kleg said.
Anyone who suspects a trafficking situation should call the BCA at 877-996-6222 or email bca.tips@state.mn.us. You can also call the Day One Hotline at 866-223-1111 or contact them online if you or someone you know is being trafficked. Survivors and victims of human trafficking can call 888-373-7888 to reach the National Human Trafficking Hotline, or text HELP to 233733.
If you know of a child who may have been a victim of exploitation, call the National Center for Missing or Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678 or visit the website.
