Published: 07:12 BST, 19 August 2026 | Updated: 07:29 BST, 19 August 2026
A Somali native once given Minnesota's 'Outstanding Refugee Award for Entrepreneurship' has been charged over his suspected role in an alleged Medicare fraud scheme.
Salman Ahmed Elmi, 30, was charged with aiding and abetting theft alongside three other associates who are accused of running four fake agencies in the state that scammed the government out of $4.5million dating back to 2023.
Elmi's company, Reva Health, claimed to give Medicaid recipients adult rehabilitative mental health services.
Instead, Elmi and his co-conspirators used fake documents to gain millions in Medicaid funds, while telling their employees to pay recipients illegal kickbacks in a deal to use personal information for their phony claims.
He was charged last week with three counts of aiding and abetting theft by swindle and five counts of aiding and abetting theft by false representation.
Three of Elmi's co-conspirators were charged in a separate case alleging they used the scheme as a front for sex trafficking.
Frank Reeves, Viktoriya Komonash, and Andrea Sampson are all accused of attempting to lure drug addicted and homeless women into prostitution, while renting apartments using their names.
They would then allegedly swipe the identities and information of the men who were paying the women for sex and used them to bill Medicaid.
Salman Ahmed Elmi, 30, won the Outstanding Refugee Award from the Minnesota Department of Human Services in 2021
He was charged with aiding and abetting theft alongside three other alleged associates who stand accused of running four fake agencies in the state
Elmi's company, Reva Health, claimed to give Medicaid recipients adult rehabilitative mental health services
Investigators have been looking into the alleged sex trafficking ring since 2019 and charged Reeves, Sampson and Komonash last week with 26 felony counts each.
Elmi has not been charged in connection with sex trafficking, although investigators claimed he and Reeves spoke regularly about both the Medicare fraud and sex trafficking schemes.
He was released on Monday but forced to surrender his passport and stay in the state. His next hearing is scheduled for October 4.
