Jurors are outraged after a Minnesota judge overturned the conviction of 45-year-old Abdifatah Yusuf for stealing $7.2 million through a fraudulent health care company.
Yusuf was convicted in August of defrauding the state’s Medicaid program after investigators said that he ran a health care company without an office building, operated out of a mailbox. On Thursday, Minneapolis Judge Sarah West acquitted Yusuf, arguing that the prosecution’s case was built on circumstantial evidence.
According to prosecutors, Yusuf operated an agency called Promise Health Services that perpetrated “fraudulent documentation, over-billed claims, recipients denying they received services, and recipients receiving unlawful kickbacks.” Prosecutors said that Yusuf used Promise to fund a lavish lifestyle that included spending $22,000 on furniture, $80,000 on luxury clothing, and $42,000 on cars. He was found guilty of six counts of aiding and abetting theft by swindle (over $35,000).
After news of the acquittal broke, jurors spoke out, saying that the evidence in the case was clear.
“It was not a difficult decision whatsoever. The deliberation took probably four hours at most. Based off of the state’s evidence that was presented, it was beyond a reasonable doubt,” jury foreperson Ben Walfoort told local NBC affiliate KARE 11. “I am shocked. I’m shocked based off of all of the evidence that was presented to us and the obvious guilt that we saw based off of the said evidence.”
Another juror echoed the sentiment.
“We didn’t take our job lightly,” a juror told KARE 11. “We went through a lot of evidence and discussed a lot, took our time, but we all came to an agreement pretty easily.”
In a 55-page order, West acknowledged that there was widespread fraud at Promise, but said the state failed to establish a link between Yusuf and the fraud.
“The State’s Case was based substantially on circumstantial evidence. The State details evidence of fraud at Promise, some of which was direct evidence,” she wrote. “However, nearly all purported evidence of Mr. Yusuf’s alleged involvement in the fraud or from which the jury must have made inferences of the same is circumstantial.”
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West, who was appointed to Minnesota’s Fourth Judicial court by Democrat Governor Mark Dayton, said that she was “troubled by the manner in which fraud was able to be perpetuated at Promise Health.”
Prosecutors have appealed West’s decision, asking for a reexamination of the evidence and the judge’s decision.
Ian Birrell, Yusuf’s lawyer, said that the ruling proved his innocence.
“Judge West’s 55-page order meticulously considered the facts and faithfully applied the law. It affirms what we have maintained from the very beginning: that Abdifatah Yusuf did not commit fraud or racketeering,” he told The Daily Wire. “The Court’s Order affirms the fundamental principle that justice requires both fairness and proof. We appreciate the Court’s thorough consideration of all the proceedings and we are confident Mr. Yusuf’s innocence will be affirmed through the appeal process.”
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