Auburn Man and Portland Woman Indicted on Federal Health Care Fraud and Benefit Fraud Charges

PORTLAND, ME—United States Attorney Paula D. Silsby announced today that Ahmed Yusuf Guled, 74, of Auburn, Maine, and Dahabo Abdulle Osman, 58, of Portland, Maine, were indicted by a federal grand jury in a twenty-three count indictment.

According to U.S. Attorney Silsby, the indictment alleges that from 2006 to 2009, Guled and Osman conspired with each other to commit health care fraud offenses with respect to personal care services that were reimbursed by MaineCare under the Adults with Disability and Elderly Waiver Program. Under this program, MaineCare members who are eligible to be admitted into a nursing home because they are unable to care for themselves may choose to receive the services of a personal care assistant in their home. The indictment alleges that Ahmed Guled made false statements to nurse assessors in order to qualify for personal care services that were not necessary. According to the indictment, Dahabo Osman was then paid to serve as Guled's personal care assistant based upon false and fictitious time sheets. U.S. Attorney Silsby stated that MaineCare paid out more $61,000 based upon false claims caused by Guled and Osman.

U.S. Attorney Silsby also stated that Ahmed Guled and Dahabo Osman were charged with making false statements with respect to their applications or their continued eligibility to receive federal benefits. These federal benefits include Supplemental Security Income payments issued by the Social Security Administration, public housing or Section 8 subsidized housing funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, MaineCare and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) funded, at least in part, by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and food stamps, now know as Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program (SNAP) benefits, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The indictment alleges that Guled failed to disclose or falsely reported the number of bank accounts he owned and the balances in those accounts while Dahabo Osman failed to disclose that she received wages as a personal care assistant. For example, according to the indictment, in August 2007 Ahmed Guled failed to disclose to the Maine Department of Health and Human Services during a review of his MaineCare, SNAP and TANF benefits that he owned three bank accounts with combined balances than exceeded $25,000. U.S. Attorney Silsby stated that both Guled and Osman were charged with theft of U.S. government property, namely, SSI, MaineCare, SNAP, and TANF  benefits.

Guled was indicted on a total of 16 counts, three which have a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years each. The remaining 13 counts have a maximum term of imprisonment of five years each. Osman was charged in twelve counts, three of which have a 10-year maximum term of imprisonment and nine of which have a five-year maximum term of imprisonment. The maximum fine for each count in the indictment is $250,000.

This matter was investigated by special agents or investigators from the following law enforcement agencies: the respective Inspector General's Offices of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Agriculture, and Social Security Administration, as well as the FBI, the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Attorney's Office, the Healthcare Crimes Unit of the Maine Attorney General's Office, and the Fraud Investigation and Recovery Unit and Program Integrity Unit of the Maine Department of Health & Human Services.