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Press Release

Bloomington Man’s Guilty Plea Marks 16th Felony Conviction in Two Medicaid Fraud Conspiracies that Totaled Over $5.4 Million in Fraudulent Billing

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Minnesota

ST. PAUL, Minn. – A Bloomington man has pleaded guilty to his role in a $1.4 million Medicaid fraud conspiracy, announced United States Attorney Andrew M. Luger.

According to court documents, Abdirahman Yonis, 35, was a mental health practitioner who worked with Minnesota Multicultural Counseling Clinic, a clinic with offices in St. Paul, Brooklyn Park, and Roseville. As part of the scheme, Yonis and his co-conspirators knowingly prepared and signed client progress notes for mental health services—and related interpreter verification forms—that were not actually rendered and submitted claims to the Minnesota Medicaid program for reimbursement of mental health services and the related interpretation of those services. As a result of the false and fraudulent claims, the Medicaid program paid more than $1.4 million for services that never occurred.

Yonis pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Eric C. Tostrud to one count of wire fraud. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later time.

In 2021, the United States Attorney’s Office charged two separate cases (21-cr-56 and 21-cr-57) that involved over $5.4 million in fraudulent Medicaid billing for mental health services and the purported interpretation of those services. Since that time, 15 defendants have pleaded guilty, one has been convicted at trial, and three remain fugitives from law enforcement. The convicted defendants will be required to pay restitution to the Medicaid program for the amounts paid out on their fraudulent billing practices.

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; and the Minnesota Attorney General Office’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Angela M. Munoz and Jordan L. Sing are prosecuting the case.

Updated November 8, 2022

Topics
Financial Fraud
Health Care Fraud