The winner of the Minnesota 2021 &#8220;Outstanding Refugee&#8221; award has now been charged with Medicaid fraud and is tied to a sex-trafficking ring. 
Salman Ahmed Elmi, a 30-year-old refugee from Somalia, won &#8220;Outstanding Refugee&#8221; in entrepreneurship award from the Minnesota Department of Human Services. Now, he faces three counts of aiding and abetting theft by swindle and five counts of aiding and abetting theft by false representation, CBS News <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/medicaid-fraud-sex-trafficking-twin-cities/">reported</a> on Tuesday. 
The state website has since removed the page featuring Elmi’s award. The Minnesota Department of Human Services did not immediately respond to The Daily Wire’s request for comment as to whether it plans to revoke the award. 
A criminal complaint filed in Ramsey County accuses Elmi — along with Frank Reeves, Viktoriya Komonash, and Andrea Sampson — of billing more than $4.5 million to Medicaid since 2023 through their four agencies: Reva Health, Reva Autism, Helpful Housing, and Homefelt Assisted Living. The fraud scheme focused on recruiting young women struggling with homelessness, addiction, or financial issues into a pay for sex scheme. 
The complaint <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/medicaid-fraud-sex-trafficking-twin-cities/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">alleges</a> that Elmi, Reeves, Komonash, and Sampson used the identities of sex trafficking victims to rent apartments and make claims to Medicaid.
&#8220;I started a business to help inspire other people,&#8221; Elmi said in the now-removed post on the Minnesota DHS website. &#8220;No one owns businesses in my family; my entire family came here with the idea that the American dream was just getting a job and making it work, so shifting that mindset was difficult but important. Navigating those treacherous waters allowed me to provide for my family and work on my terms.&#8221;
A spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Human Services <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/minnesota-outstanding-refugee-honoree-accused-fraud-scheme-tied-sex-trafficking-cant-make-up">told</a> Fox News that Elmi’s actions do not reflect the goal of the “Outstanding Refugee Awards.” 
“Salman Elmi’s alleged actions are disturbing and do not reflect the goal of the Outstanding Refugee Awards,&#8221; the spokesman said, adding, &#8220;They also do not represent Minnesota’s refugee community. We are surrounded by neighbors, coworkers, employees and friends with powerful stories of resilience in the face of difficult circumstances, who are showing leadership in small as well as large ways to improve their communities. The Outstanding Refugee Awards were a way to recognize some of the individuals who make Minnesota better for all of us.&#8221;
The spokesman said there was no financial benefit tied to the award.
&#8220;The value came from the opportunity to recognize the courage, resilience and entrepreneurship of refugees and their children, and to recognize their contributions to the state. Refugees and immigrants offer skills to a needed workforce, provide entrepreneurial innovation and expand worldwide networks – all of which benefit Minnesota.&#8221; 
Elmi was released from custody on Monday, with his court hearing scheduled for early October. The judge required Elmi to surrender his passport and remain in Minnesota. Elmi’s alleged counterparts were taken into custody last Friday. 
Over the last year, federal prosecutors have revealed a pattern of systemic fraud in Minnesota, with prosecutors saying the total amount could total $9 billion statewide. Testifying before Congress earlier this year, Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz acknowledged that Minnesota’s programs are not immune to fraud but argued that “Minnesota&#8217;s programs have overwhelmingly achieved their intended purposes.”

Screenshot 2026-08-18 at 5.55.34 PM

‘Outstanding Refugee’ Of Minnesota Faces Criminal Fraud Charges

Fraud

Medicaid

Minnesota

Salman Ahmed Elmi

Tim Walz

A foreign-born Massachusetts mayor was arrested Friday for stealing COVID relief funds to fund his campaign and pay off personal debt. 
The FBI arrested Lawrence Democratic Mayor Brian DePena, 61, for allegedly funneling $1.5 million in COVID funds to fund his campaign, pay taxes, and pay down $880,000 on various property mortgages. DePena, who went <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/massachusetts-mayor-cant-understand-english-needs-translator-in-court">viral</a> last year for struggling to speak English, was charged with wire fraud and money laundering. 
“Mayor DePena was elected to be a leader for the City of Lawrence. He was looked up to and trusted by his constituents, but he betrayed that trust through his alleged corruption and lies,” said United States Attorney Leah B. Foley. “Today’s arrest is just another example of our determination to root out fraud by anyone, even public officials and holding elected officials accountable.”
DePena, born in the Dominican Republic, was first elected mayor of Lawrence, a city about 25 miles north of Boston, in 2021, running on a <a href="https://www.briandepenamayor.com/agenda">platform</a> of “integrity” and “citizen-centered” government. He was re-elected in 2025. 
Court documents say that DePena used Economic Injury Disaster Loans offered by the government and obtained by his business, Tenares Tire Services, as a fund for personal monetary benefit. 
From one round of $350,000 in loans deposited into his business account, DePena used $85,000 to pay off personal tax debts and moved $120,000 into a personal account, investigators say. DePena then wrote a number of checks totaling $90,000 to “The Committee to Elect Brian DePena,” according to court documents. Before the influx of cash, the account sat at just over $20. 
Another round of loans was approved by the Small Business Administration in October 2021, and $1,154,188 was placed in the Tenares Tire Services account. Those dollars were transferred into DePena’s personal bank account, which held only $1,401, the same day they were received, the Justice Department said. 
Of the new funds, another $42,000 went to his mayoral campaign, and $883,293 was used to pay off debts on properties owned in Lawrence, prosecutors alleged. 
If convicted, DePena could be sentenced to over 20 years in prison and subject to hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines. 
Despite living in the United States for decades and being elected to public office, DePena <a href="https://www.wgbh.org/news/politics/2022-03-21/lawrence-mayor-brian-depena-on-his-plans-to-turn-around-the-citys-schools">told</a> one local outlet in March 2022 that he was still learning English. 
“I practice my English because it’s very important in America,” he said. “For many years, another administration speaks perfect English and [didn’t provide] opportunity for better education, for businessmen, for kids, safety [in the] community.”
In <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnxviuiMbBY">videos</a> posted by the city, DePena often speaks Spanish. The population of the city is about 83% Hispanic. 
During an unrelated court appearance last year, DePena made headlines after requesting a translator. That appearance revolved around the mayor’s efforts to shield the acting chief of police during an investigation. 
DePena does not yet have a lawyer, and The Daily Wire reached out to the mayor’s office for comment.

MixCollage-14-Aug-2026-12-44-PM-5593

Foreign-Born Massachusetts Mayor Who Can’t Speak English Arrested For COVID Fraud

Boston

COVID

Department of Justice

Dominican Republic

mass immigration

Massachusetts

President Donald Trump’s top political advisers are urging Republican candidates to make an unexpected shift in their midterm messaging, to talk more about health care and less about voter integrity.
The strategy could give Republicans a potentially powerful opening on an issue that has historically been a weakness for the party, particularly as Trump-aligned groups prepare to pour hundreds of millions of dollars into the 2026 elections.
Trump campaign officials, including White House political director James Blair, pollster Tony Fabrizio and Senate Leadership Fund executive director Alex Latcham, briefed Republican senators and aides August 5 on polling showing which issues could give GOP candidates the biggest advantage, according to slides reviewed by <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/08/13/midterms-senate-health-care-republicans-trump">Axios</a>.
Health care emerged as one of the strongest messages tested. Republicans held a 46-point advantage when voters were presented with a message calling for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-growing-frustration-that-could-flip-races-and-neither-party-is-ready">greater transparency around health insurers</a>’ profits, claim denials and wait times while accusing Democrats of “lining insurers’ pockets.”
Other messages also performed strongly. Republicans held 44-point and 38-point advantages on banning congressional stock trading and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-trump-admin-opens-new-front-in-war-on-fraud-this-time-in-child-sex-changes">cracking down on fraud</a>, respectively. By comparison, the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, produced a substantially smaller 14-point Republican advantage.
The findings appear to be prompting Trump’s political operation to encourage candidates to broaden their focus as Republicans prepare for a midterm election in which health care is likely to be a central issue. The shift is notable because voter integrity has been a major priority for Trump and his political base, while Republicans have historically struggled to compete with Democrats on health care. Republicans now see an opportunity to turn that dynamic around by targeting health insurance companies rather than simply defending the party’s record on health policy.
The timing could also be significant as the Trump political operation prepares to begin spending heavily in competitive races. Blair told senators to expect money from MAGA Inc. and the Republican National Committee to begin flowing into midterm races, although he did not specify when or where the spending would begin. MAGA Inc. has more than $400 million available for political spending.
The RNC also has a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-democrats-cash-crunch-and-what-it-means-for-2026-and-beyond">massive financial advantage</a> over its Democratic counterpart, with roughly $128 million in cash on hand compared with just $16 million for the Democratic National Committee, which also carries roughly $18 million in debt.
A recent Supreme Court ruling further increased the potential value of the Republican Party’s cash advantage by allowing national party committees to make unlimited coordinated expenditures with candidates.
Taken together, the new messaging strategy and coming influx of Republican money could give GOP candidates a more unified campaign apparatus heading into November.
National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Tim Scott said the meeting left him optimistic. “Good news coming our way is what they basically indicated,” Scott told Axios.

US-POLITICS-TRUMP

Top Trump Officials Sound Alarm Over GOP Midterm Strategy

2026 election

2026 elections

2026 midterm

2026 Midterms

Health Insurance

Healthcare

Republican Party

Republicans

Senate Republicans

Trump Administration

I’m a psychologist and board-certified behavior analyst who has worked in the autism services field for 25 years. I know firsthand how much access to quality care can mean to a child and his or her family. I am outraged that a few bad actors have abused or outright defrauded autism benefits under Medicaid in several states, consuming limited resources that are meant to benefit the families I serve. Reforms are needed to protect and continue serving those truly in need.
Applied behavior analysis, or ABA, is an evidence-based treatment used to help people with autism develop skills involving communication, learning, social interaction, and daily living. Children meet with a behavior technician who coaches them through structured activities. For many children and families, access to ABA can be life-changing.
That’s why I welcome the Trump administration&#8217;s focus on strengthening Medicaid oversight and combating fraud, waste, and abuse. Vice President JD Vance recently said that “fraud is really a dual victim crime,&#8221; and he’s right. Fraudulent providers don’t just cheat the government and the taxpayer. They also take valuable resources away from children who need care and undermine families’ trust. The goal should be simple: Find the bad actors, protect taxpayers, and make sure children who need ABA continue to receive the care they need.
Last week, the Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services (CMS) released a toolkit to help states strengthen program integrity in Medicaid-funded ABA services. This was an important first step, and there’s more that the administration can do, in partnership with the autism-services community, to help root out fraud.
First, Medicaid should rely on sound clinical judgment, not on arbitrary supervision ratios that add costs without benefiting patients. We need appropriate oversight of ABA treatment, but treatment dosage and the amount of clinical supervision should be individualized based on the needs of the child, family, and clinical team. A universal supervision requirement based on paid claims — such as requiring a fixed percentage of supervision for every child — could lead providers to deliver and bill for services a child doesn’t medically need. This puts taxpayers on the hook for unnecessary care. Quotas like these can also greatly reduce the number of children a provider can serve, restricting access for families. We know that individualized decisions are the cornerstone of effective healthcare, and the same is true for autism treatment.
Medicaid must also maintain strong provider networks and eliminate unnecessary out-of-network spending. Medicaid managed care organizations should build robust networks of qualified providers who provide care at an agreed-upon rate. Medicaid shouldn’t be footing excessive bills for out-of-network providers who circumvent the enrollment and validation process. But to build those networks, reimbursement rates must be competitive. Without stable, fair-market pricing, we risk alienating and losing quality providers. This could mean long travel times to appointments and longer waits for families to receive care.
Finally, state Medicaid programs should expand the use of CMS’ Medically Unlikely Edits, or MUEs, in their Medicaid claims systems. This is one of the simplest and most effective tools for rooting out fraud in any medical scenario, yet many state Medicaid programs lack this basic guardrail. MUEs would flag claims that exceed reasonable parameters and require providers to substantiate them before taxpayers even pay the bill. Each month, millions of Americans scrutinize their credit card statements before issuing payment to ensure they weren’t incorrectly or fraudulently charged. The same principle should apply in Medicaid. Expanding the use of MUEs will help Medicaid find improper payments while allowing legitimate claims to move forward and protecting access to autism services for those who rely on them.
The Trump administration is off to a good start on reforming Medicaid. Autism providers want to keep up the momentum. No one suffers more from fraud in the autism services industry than the patients themselves. The best reforms will protect the taxpayer, expose the bad actors, and make sure the patients most in need don&#8217;t pay the price for someone else&#8217;s fraud.
***
Rebecca L. Thompson, PhD, BCBA-D, LP, LBA, is a psychologist and board member of the National Coalition for Access to Autism Services.

Minnesota Oversight 3/04/26

Trump Is Right To Crack Down On Medicaid Fraud. Autism Providers Should Help Him.

Autism

Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services (CMS)

DW Opinion

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Vice President JD Vance&#8217;s Fraud Task Force is referring a number of hospitals and clinics to the Justice Department and the HHS Inspector General for possible violations of federal law.
Those hospitals have billed millions of dollars in insurance claims for puberty blockers for children, according to a new Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) report. Now the Trump administration is investigating.
HHS released &#8220;Wolves in White Coats: How Doctors and Hospitals Pushed and Profited from the Fraud of &#8216;Gender Medicine'&#8221; on Thursday morning. The report examines insurance coding, financial incentives, and the &#8220;provision&#8221; of transgender medical procedures for minors, including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries.
It&#8217;s the first time in history that HHS examined the financial incentives behind the pediatric gender medicine industry that has exploded over the last decade, leaving many young people mentally and physically harmed in its wake.
Over 225 hospitals and health systems established pediatric gender programs across the country, the report found. Between 2015 and 2025, there were approximately $50 million in insurance claims for puberty blockers that were billed using the endocrine disorder diagnostic code E34.9 — a billable code used when a patient has a hormone problem.
&#8220;These allegations are crazy, and they demand investigation,&#8221; Vance said in a video obtained exclusively by The Daily Wire. &#8220;When children may have been harmed, and families misled, it’s on those of us in power to find the truth and to seek justice for kids who were harmed by these doctors.”
&#8220;Using this code in place of a gender-related diagnosis (e.g., gender identity disorder, F64.0) violates CMS guidelines for the simple reason that gender dysphoria is not an endocrine disorder, since it exhibits no hormonal abnormalities,&#8221; the report states. &#8220;In fact, the only endocrine disorders these patients have are the ones created by their doctors through the use of sex-rejecting interventions. Yet it appears that healthcare providers are misusing this code.&#8221;
The report cites a 2016 study titled “Identifying the Transgender Population in the Medicare Program&#8221; in which CMS’s Office of Minority Health states that &#8220;proxy diagnosis codes are being substituted for gender dysphoria.&#8221; In the methods section, the authors explain how they included the code for Unspecified Endocrine Disorder because it is “frequently used by the transgender community to combat the perceived stigma of a GID diagnosis.&#8221;
Doctors and practitioners of &#8220;pediatric gender care&#8221; have been using this code to bill insurance claims for children for whom they prescribe &#8220;gender-affirming&#8221; puberty blockers, or prescription medication that stops a child&#8217;s puberty. While transgender advocates claim that halting a child&#8217;s puberty helps them feel more comfortable in their body before they begin testosterone or estrogen treatments or undergo transgender surgeries, critics argue that the puberty blockers carry significant risks to the child&#8217;s fertility, bone density, and more.
The new HHS report also found that hospitals and clinics billed nearly $11 million in claims for patients between the ages of 13 and 17 using a diagnosis code for precocious puberty (E30.1). That finding also signals to HHS and the task force that there should be additional review of insurance coding practices.
“The findings raise serious questions about what families were told, what insurers were told, and how these procedures were billed,&#8221; HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in the video message obtained by The Daily Wire.
&#8220;HHS will follow the evidence, protect taxpayers, and hold accountable anyone who broke the law or violated the trust of patients and families,&#8221; he vowed in a statement issued Thursday. &#8220;Under President Trump’s leadership, we are restoring transparency and integrity to American medicine.”
HHS&#8217; report offers recommendations on how to strengthen oversight of insurance coding practices and make sure that billing practices flagged as potentially improper are thoroughly reviewed.
It was compiled by a number of top gender experts and researchers who have been outspoken on pediatric gender practices under the Biden administration, including Eithan Haim, a doctor targeted by the former administration for speaking out against transgender medical practices in Texas, Quentin Van Meter, a board-certified pediatric endocrinologist with 46 years of continuous clinical experience, Aaron Baer, president of the Center for Christian Virtue, Victoria Coley of the Independent Women’s Forum, May Mailman, the director of the Independent Women’s Law Center, and Rachel Morrison of the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
&#8220;The research and first-hand stories in this report demonstrates potential large-scale fraud, and a critical need for more accountability and rigorous oversight of the medical providers, insurers, advocacy organizations, and government agencies that not only allowed, but often encouraged it,&#8221; the report concludes. &#8220;Because of the dangerous combination of ideology and financial incentives, we believe the potential fraud exposed in this report is only the tip of the iceberg.&#8221;
Assistant Secretary for Health, Admiral Brian Christine, has been outspoken in his desire to end the promotion of transgender procedures for kids, describing such procedures as &#8220;sex-denying,&#8221; and emphasizing the harm that puberty blockers, hormones, and surgeries cause to these confused young people.
“Our responsibility as healthcare professionals, first and foremost, is to do no harm,&#8221; he said on Thursday. &#8220;As HHS’ commissioned report Wolves in White Coats details, the medical establishment created what the report describes as ‘captive patients,’ placing vulnerable children on a path toward potentially lifelong medical interventions.&#8221;
Christine vowed that HHS is committed to protecting kids from these procedures, as well as &#8220;following the evidence, and restoring trust in American medicine.&#8221;

EXCLUSIVE: Trump Admin Opens New Front In War On Fraud, This Time In Child Sex-Changes

J.D. Vance

Puberty blockers

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Transgender

transgender surgery

A former top Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) official was charged Wednesday in a federal fraud case claiming the organization secretly funneled millions of dollars in donor money to informants embedded in white supremacist and other extremist groups. 
Heidi Beirich, 59, who formerly led the SPLC’s Intelligence Project tracking extremist groups, was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to submit false statements to a federally insured bank, and conspiracy to commit concealment of money laundering. Attorney General Todd Blanche mistakenly referred to her as the organization&#8217;s former chief financial officer in a press conference.
Beirich surrendered to federal authorities in California on Wednesday, per the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/former-southern-poverty-law-center-official-arrested-for-alleged-financial-fraud-0062956f">Wall Street Journal</a>. 
The charges are part of the Justice Department’s broader criminal case against the SPLC, which prosecutors accuse of routing donor money through accounts associated with fictitious companies and bank accounts to conceal payments to informants inside extremist organizations. Prosecutors say that between 2007 and 2023, the SPLC funneled at least $4.1 million in donor funds to sources who led, belonged to, or infiltrated extremist groups.
Blanche said Wednesday that Beirich helped facilitate the financial arrangements at the center of the case.
“As alleged, I believe she was part of the effort to open bank accounts in completely fictitious companies’ names and make payments to individuals for reasons that were not accurate as described,” Blanche said.
The latest indictment also alleges that Beirich personally oversaw payments to one informant, identified as “F-9,” who received more than $1.2 million from the SPLC over the course of the alleged scheme. Beirich was romantically involved with F-9, according to the <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/06/16/us-news/splc-employee-who-paid-neo-nazi-lover-1-2-million-unmasked/">New York Post</a>, and shared two bank accounts with him.
Approximately $140,000 in SPLC money allegedly flowed through a fictitious company account into the couple’s joint accounts between 2015 and 2021, accounting for roughly 66% of the money deposited into those accounts during that period. Beirich allegedly used some of the money to pay the couple’s personal living expenses. 
F-9 allegedly infiltrated the neo-Nazi National Alliance and stole approximately 25 boxes of documents from the organization. Prosecutors claim SPLC funds were subsequently used to copy the stolen documents, which Beirich used as the basis for an SPLC “Hatewatch” report. The indictment goes further, claiming that Beirich later paid another informant approximately $6,000 to falsely claim responsibility for the theft.
The <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28551957-splc-2nd-ss-indictment-redacted/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">26-page indictment</a> alleges that the SPLC-funded informants used donor money while participating in extremist organizations, including to attend and host rallies, recruit members, establish chapters, publish racist literature and purchase materials for KKK robes, hoods and cross burnings.
Another SPLC informant, identified as F-37, allegedly received more than $270,000 while participating in the planning of the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Prosecutors say the informant attended the rally at the SPLC&#8217;s direction and helped coordinate transportation for attendees.
FBI Director Kash Patel added Wednesday that Beirich was “at the center” of the bureau’s investigation into the organization. 
“As alleged, Heidi Beirich was at the center of our ongoing investigation into SPLC and their previously alleged criminal activity — where SPLC knowingly misled donors, who believed their money was being used to dismantle violent extremist organizations — when in fact, part of those donations were instead being used to pay senior leadership within those extremist groups,” Patel wrote on <a href="https://x.com/FBIDirectorKash/status/2087616355939844357?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2087616355939844357%7Ctwgr%5Ea5fa5c66e29cee07a8922cc2e11d7bcc365c96cc%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fpolitics%2Fformer-splc-official-arrested-feds-expand-case-alleged-4m-scheme-involving-extremist-groups">X</a>.
Beirich&#8217;s attorney, Michael Proctor, denied the allegations and accused the Trump administration of politically targeting his client. 
“A free and fair society does not use the justice system to silence its political opponents,” Proctor said in a statement. “Heidi Beirich has dedicated her life to fighting hate groups and extremist movements like the KKK, neo-Nazis, and other white supremacists.”
The SPLC has likewise denied wrongdoing, arguing that its informant program was intended to gather intelligence on extremist organizations and prevent violence. 
“Taking on violent hate and extremist groups is among the most dangerous work there is, and we believe it is also among the most important work we do,” the SPLC previously said in a statement to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/former-splc-official-arrested-feds-expand-case-alleged-4m-scheme-involving-extremist-groups">Fox News Digital</a>. “We remain steadfast in our fight for justice and in our commitment to ensuring the promise of the Civil Rights movement becomes a reality for all.”
Beirich left the SPLC in 2019 after roughly two decades with the organization. She later co-founded the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism and continued working as an expert on far-right extremism, including testifying before Congress.

Discovery ‘Love & Hate Crime’ TV show panel, TCA Winter Press Tour, Los Angeles, USA – 12 Jan 2018

Former SPLC Official Charged With Fraud Over White Supremacist Payouts

Crime

Hate-Group

Southern Poverty Law Center

Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)

White Supremacists

White Supremacy

The Department of Justice charged 11 people in a massive immigration fraud scheme that authorities say facilitated roughly 1,000 sham marriages, mainly between Chinese nationals and American citizens seeking to help them obtain legal immigration status.
Ten out of the 11 defendants in the case were arrested Wednesday morning for their roles in orchestrating the fraudulent marriages between 2016 and July 2026, the Justice Department <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/11-defendants-charged-dismantling-decade-long-nationwide-marriage-fraud-scheme">said</a>. According to prosecutors, the group created a multimillion-dollar network that operated in New York City, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Vanuatu, and China.
Attorney General Todd Blanche described the case Wednesday as one of the largest marriage fraud prosecutions in U.S. history, saying it exposes &#8220;how far these people will go to cheat our immigration system.&#8221;
&#8220;Gaining American citizenship and legal status to reside in this great nation is a sacred privilege, and we will ensure it is always done in accordance with the law protecting our communities and national security,&#8221; he said. &#8220;These schemes have real costs. They rob our country of its ability to know who should be and should not be allowed in America.&#8221;
Prosecutors say the defendants built a network involving attorneys, tax preparers, and wedding officiants to help foreign nationals obtain green cards before later assisting the couples with divorces.
The scheme charged foreign nationals as much as $100,000 for its services while paying U.S. citizens as much as $30,000 to marry them, according to the Justice Department. Recruiters allegedly used social media posts advertising immigration services to lure clients while tracking down Americans willing to participate in the marriages.
After arranging the ceremonies, the accused staged family photos &#8220;to create the appearance of a legitimate wedding,&#8221; Blanche said.
The photos, along with joint accounts the group helped the couples open, were used in their green card applications.
The operation extended overseas, including to China, where an office tied to the scheme assisted with U.S. immigration paperwork and prenuptial agreements. In one instance, a prenuptial agreement stated that the couple lived separately &#8220;and must not interfere with each other,&#8221; Blanche said.
The Justice Department has directed federal prosecutors to prioritize denaturalization cases against naturalized citizens who obtained their citizenship through fraud, Blanche said. More than 120 such complaints have been filed since President Donald Trump&#8217;s return to the White House.
&#8220;Not only are we protecting our physical borders from unlawful crossings, but we&#8217;re also preventing immigration fraud schemes that are just another way to skirt the immigration laws of the United States,&#8221; Blanche said.
&#8220;Our efforts to protect our immigration system and our country&#8217;s borders are aggressive and exhaustive. No matter how complicated the scam, we will do everything in our power to stop it,&#8221; he said.
Federal authorities charged Amy Cheng, 72, of Brooklyn, New York, Xiao Mei Chan, 64, of Queens, New York, Christine Lu, 52, of Queens, New York, Jing Yan Ye, 43, of Staten Island, New York, Xiao Yan Chen, 48, of Brooklyn, New York, Gang Zheng, 61, of Queens, New York, Anthony Cheng, 47, of Staten Island, New York, Michelle Duenas, 35, of Staten Island, New York, Angela Duenas, 26, of Staten Island, New York, Sigrid Cetino, 32, of Peekskill, New York, and Erika Johnson, 43, of Ossining, New York.
Each defendant faces one count of conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and immigration document fraud, which could lead to a maximum sentence of five years behind bars, and one count of conspiracy to encourage the unlawful residence of aliens in the United States, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.

Untitled design – 2026-08-12T122917.554

Fraudsters Facilitated Hundreds Of Green Card Marriages For Chinese Nationals

China

Immigration

Todd Blanche

WASHINGTON — The White House is launching a website dedicated to exposing the fraud that Vice President JD Vance&#8217;s task force has uncovered, The Daily Wire can first report.
The new site, &#8220;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fraud/">The Fraud Ledger</a>,&#8221; will highlight the successes of the &#8220;Task Force to Eliminate Fraud,&#8221; specifically focusing on the three values that the task force solicited from each partner agency: fraud uncovered, fraud stopped, and fraud enforcement.
It is designed to be a &#8220;public record of the fraud, waste, and corruption identified&#8221; by the task force since January 2025.
“President Trump is waging an all-out war on fraud, shutting down billions of dollars in taxpayer theft,&#8221; White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales told The Daily Wire. &#8220;Democrats have refused to stop this epidemic of fraud. The Trump Administration is holding these criminals accountable and ensuring key federal programs remain viable for the Americans they were meant to support.”
<div id="attachment_1152049" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-white-house-launches-fraud-website-to-highlight-successes-of-task-force/vice-president-vance-leads-congressional-roundtable-on-anti-fraud-initiatives" rel="attachment wp-att-1152049"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1152049" class="wp-image-1152049 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2289204245-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2289204245-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2289204245-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2289204245-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2289204245.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>(Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)</div>
&#8220;Fraud uncovered&#8221; refers to estimates of total fraud that the agencies uncovered, using data and statistical methods, &#8220;fraud stopped&#8221; refers real dollars per year that were not spent due to the administration&#8217;s actions, and &#8220;fraud enforcement&#8221; refers to the money related to indictments, settlements, or civil monetary penalties.
Since January 2025, the task force has uncovered $229.9 billion, according to the website. The task force has stopped $56.4 billion in annual fraud, and enforced $55.5 billion in fraud through indictments and settlements.
Medicaid fraud deferrals top the list of the task force&#8217;s highest impact anti-fraud actions — according to the new website, the Center for Medicaid Services deferred over $2 billion from California and $500 million from Minnesota.
The Small Business Administration had the most total estimated fraud uncovered, coming in at a whopping $122.9 billion. Health and Human Services followed closely with $96.2 billion in uncovered fraud, and the Department of Labor came next at $7 billion.
The move comes on the heels of Vance&#8217;s latest fraud announcements, made Wednesday in Washington, D.C. Vance shared the latest fraud numbers that his team had uncovered since the task force launched, and he called on Congress to help combat fraud by codifying anti-fraud measures into law.
“The Vice President is taking a whole of government approach to fighting fraud,&#8221; a spokesman for the vice president shared. &#8220;That includes working with Congress to codify common sense anti-fraud measures to ensure that fraudsters and people who take advantage of the American people’s generosity are brought to justice for future generations, not just under the Trump Administration.”

Vice President Vance Discusses Administration’s Fight Against Fraud In Milwaukee

EXCLUSIVE: White House Launches Fraud Website To Highlight Successes Of Task Force

Department of Health and Human Services

Department of Labor

JD Vance

Small Business Administration

Trump Administraiton

White House

One of the largest fraud scandals in Minnesota may involve the family of Ilhan Omar.
The far-left congresswoman&#8217;s sister used the address of a woman who was business partners with several major convicts in the &#8220;Feeding Our Future&#8221; scandal, a Daily Wire investigation found.
The federal meals scandal is described as the largest public theft in Minnesota history. The statehouse&#8217;s House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee is probing the Somali-born congresswoman&#8217;s involvement in the scandal, but Democrats in May <a href="https://www.house.mn.gov/sessiondaily/Story/19152" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blocked</a> a subpoena that would require Omar to produce records.
Public records in the state, however, may tie Omar&#8217;s sister, Sahra Noor, to the operation. Noor has run several businesses in the region, including the People&#8217;s Center Clinics &amp; Services in the Somali neighborhood of Minneapolis, which controversially received a <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/03/12/exposed-ilhan-omars-ties-to-sisters-minneapolis-health-clinic-somali-health-company-and-alleged-brother-husband/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$2 million earmark</a> while her sister was a state representative.
Noor went on to found a group called Grit Partners Consulting, and publicly <a href="https://www.sahranoor.com/grit-partners/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">says</a> her company &#8220;has secured more than $20 million in funding for health initiatives&#8221;  and has &#8220;consulted on projects backed by&#8221; federal health agencies such as USAID and the Center for Disease Control.
Grit Partners was incorporated at a home on Hyacinth Ave. in Lakeville, Minnesota. That address, and the woman who lives there, are lynchpins tying together at least three Feeding Our Future convicts, The Daily Wire found.
<div id="attachment_1142613" style="width: 972px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1142613" class="size-full wp-image-1142613" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/noor-book.jpg" alt="" width="962" height="484" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/noor-book.jpg 962w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/noor-book-300x151.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/noor-book-768x386.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 962px) 100vw, 962px" />sahranoor.com</div>
The Hyacinth Ave. home is occupied by Mashah Ahmed Ali and his wife Ister (a.k.a. Ismahan) Ahmed Afraa. According to incorporation records, Afraa opened a company called Sunrise Business Center, Inc. alongside <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-mn/media/1255296/dl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hanna Marekegn</a>.
Marekegn is directly involved in the fraud scandal, pleading guilty in 2022 to wire fraud for stealing $7 million.
Marekegn claimed to be feeding 4,000 poor children a day. Instead she bought a <a href="https://alphanews.org/scoop-marble-filled-mansion-once-owned-by-feeding-our-future-fraudster-hits-the-market-for-2-1-million/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mansion</a> for herself, claiming she embodied the “American Dream.” Marekegn testified under oath that she falsely alleged racism to manipulate Minnesota bureaucrats to look the other way at red flags.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1142611" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/marakegn-linkedin.jpg" alt="" width="786" height="519" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/marakegn-linkedin.jpg 786w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/marakegn-linkedin-300x198.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/marakegn-linkedin-768x507.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 786px) 100vw, 786px" /></div>
Afraa, who worked with Marekegn, also incorporated Sunshine Care Center MN, Inc., which claimed the same office address as Sunrise Business Center. On LinkedIn, Marekegn listed her <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/hanna-marekegn-2867bb12b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">employer</a> as Sunshine Care Center at that address.
Afraa is also tied to Aimee Bock, the Feeding our Future ring-leader sentenced to <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/feeding-our-future-ringleader-sentenced-500-months" target="_blank" rel="noopener">41 years</a> in prison. Minnesota Department of Health data <a href="https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/ship/support/docs/earlycare/ccfreereduced.xlsx?brid=YWdncwGti_6E0KoMeHBBoGymC5bJ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">listed</a> Bock as point of contact for Sunshine Care Center LLC.
Her Hyacinth Ave. home was also the <a href="https://mblsportal.sos.mn.gov/Business/SearchDetails?filingGuid=40a65565-b922-e211-bc43-001ec94ffe7f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">incorporation address</a> of Diversity Childcare Center LLC, which <a href="https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/ship/support/docs/earlycare/ccfreereduced.xlsx?brid=YWdncwGti_6E0KoMeHBBoGymC5bJ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">listed</a> Bock as point of contact.
<div id="attachment_1142603" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1142603" class="size-large wp-image-1142603" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-1425603997-Aimee-Bock-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-1425603997-Aimee-Bock-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-1425603997-Aimee-Bock-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-1425603997-Aimee-Bock-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-1425603997-Aimee-Bock.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Aimee Bock, the executive director of the nonprofit Feeding Our Future (Photo by Shari L. Gross/Star Tribune via Getty Images)</div>
According to state investigative documents, Bock said the head of Sunshine Care Center MN, who is not named in the documents, was brought to Feeding Our Future by a woman named Sahra Nur, a key player in Feeding Our Future who was sentenced to <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-mn/pr/minneapolis-woman-sentenced-51-months-prison-role-feeding-our-future-250-million-fraud" target="_blank" rel="noopener">four years in prison</a>, and to whom Afraa is closely tied.
Afraa was CEO of Aflah Property Inc., which operated out of Nur&#8217;s home on Fordham Ct NE. Afraa had a $30,000 state tax lien placed against her in April 2025, listing the Fordham home as the address.
Nur&#8217;s home on Fordham Ct. was ground zero for Feeding Our Future, being used by at least 17 different companies, most of them designed to bill the government or launder profits.
Nur was an owner of S &amp; S Catering, which claimed to have made more than eight million meals. It enabled the fraud of the various Feeding Our Future nonprofits by giving them fake invoices so they could tell the government they spent money purchasing meals. The government reimbursed more than $12 million as a result, according to Nur’s <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.203041/gov.uscourts.mnd.203041.1.0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">indictment</a> and <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.203042/gov.uscourts.mnd.203042.160.0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">guilty plea</a>.
Nur’s home was also used to set up some of those nonprofits, like the Academy for Youth Excellence, which allegedly stole $3.5 million in federal funds.
It also housed Golis Properties LLC, which allegedly stole $3.9 million from taxpayers and used $2.5 million in stolen funds to buy an entire block on East Lake Street.
Nur ran Kulmiye Management LLC, while Afraa, the woman connected to Omar’s sister, was an executive in Kulmiye Property LLC.
Afraa bought a property directly across the street from one that was forfeited to the government, 2529 12th Avenue South, for being purchased with stolen funds.
For Omar, a scandal involving siblings is nothing new. Since her first entry into the national political scene, she has been dogged by reporting on her marriage to a Somalian man who is widely believed to be her brother. That marriage was almost certainly not done for romantic reasons — he was a foreign national, and during her marriage to him, she married another man who is the father of her children. Omar has since divorced that second husband to marry her one-time political consultant, Tim Mynett.
Reporting shows that Omar&#8217;s sister has moved back to Africa, and that her family has found itself involved directly with the Somali government.
According to <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/03/12/exposed-ilhan-omars-ties-to-sisters-minneapolis-health-clinic-somali-health-company-and-alleged-brother-husband/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Breitbart</a>, Omar&#8217;s sister left her position at the People&#8217;s Center and moved to Kenya, with her Grit Partners doing work in Africa <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20260312212139/https://gritpartnersglobal.com/2023/11/18/facilitation-of-usaid-funded-projects-peer-learning-sessions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">funded</a> by the now-defunct USAID.
Her husband, Mohamed Keynan, worked for the Minnesota Department of Human Services, but after going back to Africa, he has worked as chief of staff to the Somali Prime Minister and policy advisor to Somalia&#8217;s president, Breitbart said.
The husband is also known as Mohamed Ali, the same last name as the owner of the Hyacinth home where Noor incorporated Grit Partners, Mashah Ahmed Ali. The latter created two companies: Pro Transit Allies LLC, seemingly a Medicaid transportation company; and Puntland Transport LLC. Puntland is an area of Somalia for which Mohamed Keynan – Ilhan Omar’s brother-in-law – is a <a href="https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/ilhans-country" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fierce advocate</a>.
In a phone call with The Daily Wire, Mashah Ahmed Ali claimed to have never heard of any of the companies registered to his home or by his wife, saying someone must have created them without his knowledge. “There must be some sort of scam going on, I have no idea,” he said.
“For the last 10 years I have a professional job, I have nothing to do with anything,” he said.
Asked if his wife Afraa might be the person who knows about the companies in her name, he refused to provide her number. Afraa did not reply to a text sent to a number associated with her.
Noor, who has written a <a href="https://www.sahranoor.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">book</a> scheduled for release next month, did not return a request for comment.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1142619" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/feeding-our-future-network-651x576.jpg" alt="" width="651" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/feeding-our-future-network-651x576.jpg 651w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/feeding-our-future-network-300x265.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/feeding-our-future-network-768x680.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/feeding-our-future-network.jpg 1494w" sizes=" (max-width: 651px) 100vw, 651px" /></div>

Ilhan Omar

Ilhan Omar’s Sister Linked To Central Figures In Minnesota’s Fraud Scandal

Feeding Our Future

Somalia

An Ohio grand jury this week indicted an African couple living in Ohio on charges of Medicaid fraud, money laundering, and identity fraud — two months after The Daily Wire exposed the pair as part of its Medicaid Millions series.
But it was too late: the couple had already returned to their native Africa, highlighting the vulnerabilities of paying millions of dollars to foreign-born providers of dubious Medicaid services.
Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson announced on Wednesday that Roberta Acheampong, 39, and her husband, Godfred Owusu-Sekyere, 46, face &#8220;12 felony charges for allegedly defrauding Ohio’s Medicaid program of $9.3 million.&#8221; He said investigators believe the couple is now living in Kenya or Ghana.
The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.sbc.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/c/7/c79480c8-8424-4bd6-ad5b-fa1245c997a4/778A933D6B0FE2859B0CA5D5142925B70AF508FDF2F813729C692B4C2B8F9B5B.rosiak-testimony.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">testified</a> to the U.S. Senate specifically on Acheampong, describing the fraudster as &#8220;a janitor who changed the name of her janitorial LLC to One Community Mental Health, then billed the government $100,000 in the first month. It later billed up to $650,000 a month. Meanwhile she started a daycare and an addiction treatment center. Then she left the country.&#8221;
Wilson, in his statement on the felony charges, said they were the result of &#8220;a complex, years-long investigation&#8221; that &#8220;revealed widespread fraudulent billing tied to One Community Mental Health, a &#8216;behavioral-health clinic&#8217; that the couple owned and operated in Ohio.
&#8220;The two allegedly exploited refugees seeking resettlement services, billing Medicaid multiple times a week for entire households, without their knowledge, for unnecessary mental health and therapeutic behavioral services that were never provided,&#8221; the attorney general said. &#8220;They are also accused of forging documents and stealing the identities of translation and transportation staff members to submit fraudulent Medicaid claims under their names.&#8221;
Two months. Millions of documents. A full investigative team. That’s what this story required. Most outlets can’t afford work like this, which is why it doesn’t happen. We’ve chosen to make it happen. <a href="https://get.dailywire.com/fight/?utm_campaign=missional&amp;utm_medium=editorial&amp;utm_source=article&amp;utm_content=medicaid&amp;_gl=1*1uc6lkc*_gcl_au*MTExMzM3NDg1MS4xNzgwMzI0NTk4*_ga*Njg2ODcyNzQyLjE3NDg1NDY2MDE.*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*czE3ODQxNTQ3NjYkbzc5MiRnMSR0MTc4NDE1NDgwMCRqMjYkbDAkaDAkZGllUFRkNmhfeFA5ZEV2OFd5TXRNSVFMM01LMTRkNXFzRmc." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Support more of it by becoming a member of Daily Wire.</a>
His office also said that banking records show Acheampong used the &#8220;stolen&#8221; funds to &#8220;finance a lavish lifestyle, including purchases of real estate and a Porsche.&#8221;
The charges come just a few months after the Daily Wire&#8217;s May 5 story, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/inside-ohios-home-health-empire-7-buildings-288-medicaid-companies-250-million" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Inside Ohio’s Home Health Empire: 7 Buildings, 288 Medicaid Companies, $250 Million</a>, in which the business was identified as one of the most eyebrow-raising businesses in a pocket of Ohio where Medicaid fraud runs rampant.
<blockquote>At 1425 East Dublin, One Community Mental Health LLC, run by Roberta Acheampong, billed 70,000 claims totaling $8 million, according to the data reviewed. The Daily Wire roamed the building but saw no physical presence.
The home health industry is not her first business tied to taxpayer funds. In 2019, Acheampong created <a href="https://bizimage.ohiosos.gov/api/image/pdf/201910902672" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Royals African International Food Market Inc.</a>, but soon a lien was placed against it by the Economic &amp; Community Development Institute, which gives federally-funded loans for “social and economic change.”
She <a href="https://bizimage.ohiosos.gov/api/image/pdf/201928703278" target="_blank" rel="noopener">incorporated</a> Nahsek Interpreting Services LLC, which three months later <a href="https://bizimage.ohiosos.gov/api/image/pdf/202001304324" target="_blank" rel="noopener">changed its name</a> to Royals Cleaning Services LLC. In September 2020, the cleaning service changed its name to <a href="https://bizimage.ohiosos.gov/api/image/pdf/202024704316" target="_blank" rel="noopener">One Community Mental Health LLC</a>. This time, she struck gold.
In its first month of billing Medicaid, it had $96,000 worth of instant clients without so much as a website. By January 2023, it was charging taxpayers $654,000 a month for “therapeutic behavioral services,” “psychosocial rehabilitation services,” and “community psychiatric supportive treatment,” the billing records reviewed by The Daily Wire show.
With government money flowing in, Acheampong, whose business was cleaning houses a few months earlier, bought a $1.1 million home in a gated community in Powell, Ohio, records indicate. The Daily Wire visited the home to speak to Acheampong, but it was empty and listed for sale.
In February 2021, she created the nonprofit 1st Access Community Resources, for “Providing Community Base [sic] Case Management Services.” The filing paperwork was also sent to the food market. The nonprofit was quickly abandoned. In December 2022, Acheampong <a href="https://bizimage.ohiosos.gov/api/image/pdf/202236304092" target="_blank" rel="noopener">incorporated</a> Little Stars of America Learning Center LLC. Its address was listed as the address of the aforementioned African market.
Soon, she had another for-profit company, One Community Developmental Support Services LLC, listed under the category of residential treatment facilities. Spending data for that category isn’t public.</blockquote>
Since her companies didn&#8217;t seem to exist at their offices, The Daily Wire visited Acheampong&#8217;s home, on a luxury private lane, and found it empty and for sale.
A neighbor told us that the realtor selling Acheampong&#8217;s house said she had left the country and was liquidating all of her assets in the United States. Hours after The Daily Wire story published mentioning Acheampong, the home was taken off the market.
&#8220;Who buys a million-plus dollar home and never opens the blinds and never has a light on?&#8221; the neighbor said.
This reporter also raised the Acheampong example to the <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-119hhrg63891/pdf/CHRG-119hhrg63891.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">U.S. House of Representatives</a>:
<blockquote>Chairman COMER. You also reported companies with rapid and unusual growth. Should state oversight authorities have been alarmed by these trends?
Mr. ROSIAK. Yes. I mean, for example, there was a janitor who renamed her LLC to be Mental Health and started billing Medicaid $100,000 in the first month, later up to $650,000 in one month, and then she left the country. And so, if you were to start a roofing business, it takes time to build clients. How do you get $100,000 in business the first month? That is something people could ask.
&#8230;
Mr. GILL. What are some of these names that you come across? Do you hear the same names, or are they different names?
Mr. ROSIAK. Yes, it is funny because this started off, I was investigating a guy named Robert Acheampong. And then I found a different scammer named Roberta Acheampong. And I thought they were related, but they were not. It is just that is how common it is to scam Medicaid when your name is Acheampong.</blockquote>
Investigators may still have more to look into: The indicted husband&#8217;s name is Godfred Owusu-Sekyere.
Someone with the same last name has billed Medicaid more than $12 million for home health care in Virginia. Abena Owusu-Sekyere runs 1st Option Home Health in Woodbridge, Virginia, which has billed nearly $300,000 a month for &#8220;personal care services,&#8221; the Medicaid code which means that people who are not nurses act as servants to people in their homes, doing tasks like cooking and cleaning. Abena also runs a second home-health company, Gracestar Health Services.
The Daily Wire has found that the people getting paid for &#8220;personal services&#8221; are often refugees and migrants who live in multi-generational households and claim the older generation is disabled, resulting in payments to themselves for simply conducting normal family tasks in their own home.
<iframe style="border: none; width: 100%; height: 800px;" src="https://dailywireinteractives.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/medicaid/medicaid_series.html" scrolling="yes"></iframe>

Roberta Acheampong’s House

African Medicaid Scammers Exposed By Daily Wire Indicted For Fraud, Flee To Africa

Luke Rosiak

Medicaid Millionaires

Ohio

The FBI is hunting for a Somali-born man suspected of stealing millions of dollars in funds meant for children in need.
FBI Director Kash Patel said Wednesday that Fahad Mohamed Nur was added to the bureau&#8217;s list of “Most Wanted Fraudsters.” Nur, a naturalized American citizen born in Somalia, was charged in September 2022 for stealing $5 million from the Federal Child Nutrition Program.
“After the outstanding early success of the FBI’s Most Wanted Fraudster List, already arresting TWO subjects within weeks with apprehensions out of Somalia and Philippines, today the [FBI] is announcing another addition,” Patel <a href="https://x.com/FBIDirectorKash/status/2074820494319067311" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “We have already seen over $13 billion in fraud uncovered on behalf of hardworking Americans — and there is more to come.”
A $150,000 reward is <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/most-wanted-fraudsters/fahad-mohamed-nur" target="_blank" rel="noopener">offered</a> for information that leads to Nur’s capture and conviction. The FBI said it believes he may be hiding out in Somalia. He is charged with multiple counts of money laundering, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Nur ran a Minneapolis-based business called The Produce that purported to supply meals to children in need that received millions of dollars in federal nutrition funds, according to the indictment against him. The business was sponsored by Feeding Our Future, the infamous entity behind the largest COVID-era scam.
Federal prosecutors say that Nur submitted fake meal counts, rosters, and invoices to obtain federal funds. The funds given to Nur and his co-defendants “substantially” exceeded the amount of money that should have been allocated for the meals they actually provided, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors said that by the time Nur distributed any meals in September 2021, he had already received $3.5 million in food payments.
Misappropriated funds went toward real estate, luxury vehicles, and travel. Nur moved nearly $700,000 of fraudulently obtained dollars into his bank account, took $78,000 in cash out, and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on real estate purchases and vehicles, according to prosecutors.
Nur reportedly fled the country after federal agents started serving search warrants in relation to their investigation of the Feeding Our Future scheme. In May 2026, Feeding Our Future founder Aimee Bock was sentenced to almost 42 years in prison for orchestrating the $250 million scam.
Led by Vice President JD Vance, the Trump administration has placed a renewed focus on tracking down fraudsters targeting welfare programs.
“If you defraud American taxpayers you will be found and brought to justice,” the White House Task Force on Fraud <a href="https://x.com/WHFraudTF/status/2074831393012494634" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Wednesday.
The focus on fraud comes as The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ohio-legislature-passes-medicaid-fraud-crackdown-after-daily-wire-expose?author=Luke+Rosiak&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Ohio+Legislature+Passes+Medicaid+Fraud+Crackdown+After+Daily+Wire+Exposé" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reporting</a> on the widespread abuse of the Medicaid home healthcare system in Ohio triggered federal and state investigations.

MixCollage-08-Jul-2026-11-20-AM-3693

The Fraudster Suspect The FBI Is Now Hunting Across The Globe

kash patel

Minneapolis

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration is ramping up its crackdown on birth tourism in the United States.
Colin McDonald, who leads the newly formed Fraud Division at the Department of Justice, informed employees on Tuesday that the DOJ will target those who &#8220;exploit our immigration system and violate criminal law,&#8221; according to a memorandum on &#8220;fraudulent birth tourism schemes&#8221; obtained by The Daily Wire.
&#8220;I am directing all United States Attorneys and the Criminal Division to work with the Department of Homeland Security to prioritize the investigation and prosecution of birth tourism schemes,&#8221; McDonald ordered.
The memo comes on the heels of a momentous Supreme Court decision that protects the practice of “birth tourism,” often used by wealthy Chinese nationals to travel to the United States to give birth to their children.
The DOJ memo lays out how the American citizenship system is exploited every year by &#8220;thousands of foreigners&#8221; who come to the United States under &#8220;false pretenses to give birth and secure citizenship for their child.&#8221;
McDonald cites an example from 2024, in which Michael Wei Yueh Liu and Jing Dong, a husband and wife, were sentenced to 41 months in prison for operating a birth tourism scheme using a business called &#8220;USA Happy Baby Inc.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_1126285" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-plans-assault-on-birth-tourism-after-letdown-at-scotus/us-politics-health-fraud-blanche" rel="attachment wp-att-1126285"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1126285" class="wp-image-1126285 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-2282421409-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-2282421409-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-2282421409-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-2282421409-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-2282421409.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>(Photo by Ken Cedeno / AFP via Getty Images)</div>
That business charged Chinese clients &#8220;tens of thousands of dollars&#8221; for helping women give birth in the United States.
&#8220;Liu and Dong assisted customers with obtaining fraudulent visas to enter the United States, and provided customs entry guidance, housing, and transportation in the United States,&#8221; McDonald explained. &#8220;As part of the scheme, Liu and Dong coached their customers on how to hide their pregnancies from immigration authorities.&#8221;
Another 2022 scheme involved Ibrahim Aksakal, who was sentenced to 27 months in prison for &#8220;conspiring to commit health care and wire fraud&#8221; related to a birth tourism scheme that he operated in New York. He was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,039,723.63, and forfeiture in the amount of $397,500.
&#8220;Aksakal and his co-conspirators advertised a birth tourism scheme on two Turkish-language social media pages,&#8221; the memo states. &#8220;As part of the scheme, Aksakal and his co-conspirators instructed the women to conceal their pregnancies from immigration authorities.&#8221;
A third scheme, this one in 2020, involved a fugitive named Chao &#8220;Edwin&#8221; Chen who was sentenced to 37 months in prison for his role in a &#8220;large-scale birth tourism scheme.&#8221;
This business went under the name &#8220;You Win USA&#8221; and advertised that it had a 100-person team in China and the United States and had served more than 500 Chinese birth-tourism customers, the memo stated.
&#8220;Chen, who helped coach his customers to misrepresent the true 
intentions of their visits to United States at ports of entry, charged each customer between $40,000 to $80,000,&#8221; McDonald&#8217;s memo explained. &#8220;Chen received $3 million in international wire transfers from China in just two years.&#8221;
DOJ prosecutes many of these cases as visa fraud under 18 USC § 1546, but McDonald&#8217;s memo encourages prosecutors to consider whether other federal statutes have been violated.
That could include &#8220;Wire Fraud and Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud,&#8221; &#8220;Money Laundering and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering,&#8221; &#8220;Unlawful Use of Means of Identification,&#8221; &#8220;Aggravated Identity Theft,&#8221; and &#8220;Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud.&#8221;
President Trump called on Congress to take legislative action on Tuesday in light of the Supreme Court&#8217;s decision on birthright citizenship.
“The Supreme Court upheld Birthright Citizenship, which is too bad for our Country, but we can easily make it up in Congress through Legislation, with the support of the President, that has now been determined during this process,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “No long and unwieldy Constitutional Amendment is necessary! Congress should start TODAY to work on ending expensive and unfair to our Country, Birthright Citizenship. They will have my Complete and Total Support!”
He added in a post later on Tuesday: “I would like to congratulate President Xi, and the Great Country of China, on their massive Birthright Citizenship WIN!”

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