Attorney General Ellison announces $3 million in Medicaid fraud charges against nine providers
Files 13 charges against Duluth psychotherapy provider who submitted 27,000 false claims for services not rendered, totaling $2.2 million
Files 19 charges against owner of home care agency and three other defendants for billing $675K for services not rendered and not eligible for reimbursement
Files 13 charges against personal care attendant for financially exploiting and neglecting vulnerable adult, also for billing $17K for services not rendered
Also files 15 charges against three other individual providers for billing a total $153K in services not rendered
September 29, 2026 (SAINT PAUL) — Today, Attorney General Keith Ellison announced that his Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) has criminally charged nine separate individuals for defrauding the Medicaid program, known in Minnesota as Medical Assistance, out of more than $3 million. One provider is charged with more than $2.2 million in fraud alone, while a home care agency owner is charged with stealing more than $675,000. Yet another individual is charged with provider fraud and is separately charged with financially exploiting and neglecting the vulnerable adult she was supposed to care for.
“The many charges we are filing today allege various amounts of fraud, but even one dollar stolen in defrauding a government program is too much,” Attorney General Ellison said. “It outrages me that some people steal taxpayer money that we as a society have decided should support low-income folks who need specialized services so they can live with dignity, safety, and respect. Our job in the Attorney General’s Office is to root out these Medicaid fraudsters and hold them accountable, no matter how much or how little they steal. Anyone even thinking about stealing from Medicaid needs to know we take that job very seriously and we are very good at it.
“I’m very grateful every single day for the hard-working staff of our Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, who are the best in the country at what they do. I also thank the many law enforcement agencies, including HHS/OIG and the Minnesota BCA, that have helped us hold these fraudsters to account today,” Attorney General Ellison concluded.
“Medicaid fraud is not only a theft of taxpayer dollars, but a violation of trust that harms those who rely on these vital services,” said Special Agent in Charge Thomas Ethridge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “The coordinated work of our local, state, and federal partners in bringing these charges shows that anyone who exploits Medicaid, whether through multimillion-dollar schemes or by abusing the people they are entrusted to care for, will be held fully accountable. HHS-OIG, alongside our law enforcement partners, remains committed to protecting the integrity of Medicaid programs and defending the people they serve.”
"These crimes shortchange every Minnesotan through stolen benefits, undermined program trust and wasted tax dollars," Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said. "Our financial crimes personnel stand ready to assist the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit as it works to investigate these crimes."
The charges filed today are as follows:
Peter Jason Meilahn, of Duluth, is charged in Ramsey County District Court with 11 felony theft offenses and two felony identity-theft offenses for defrauding the Minnesota Medical Assistance program out of over $2.2 million. As alleged in the complaint, Meilahn claimed to provide psychotherapy services to Medicaid recipients, but instead submitted 27,400 separate individual false claims, wherein he billed for services that were not rendered. Meilahn frequently saw patients on a handful of occasions, yet continued billing for months after he stopped treating the patients.
UCare referred Meilahn to the MFCU. MFCU investigated by the case with assistance from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) and Duluth Poice Department.
Awo Mohamed, of Roseville, is charged in Ramsey County District Court with six felony theft offenses. Mohamed, through her personal care assistant services agency Always on Time, bilked the Minnesota Medical Assistance program out of over $675,000 by billing for services not rendered and services not eligible for reimbursement. MFCU internally opened its investigation into Mohamed after observing ties between Always on Time and agencies involved in other MFCU investigations.
This case, and the affiliated M. Johnson, A. Johnson, and Q. Hassan cases detailed below, were investigated by the MFCU, the United States Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (HHS/OIG), and the Minnesota BCA, with assistance from the Minnesota Department of Human Services’ Forensic Lab.
Mark Anthony Johnson, of Brooklyn Park, is charged in Ramsey County District Court with four felony theft offenses for his role in Mohamed’s scheme at Always on Time. Johnson worked as a personal care assistant at Always on Time and conspired with Mohamed and others to bill for services not rendered.
Qalid Hussein Hassan, of Bloomington, is charged in Ramsey County District Court with three felony theft offenses for his role in Mohamed’s scheme at Always on Time. Hassan worked as a personal care assistant at Always on Time and conspired with Mohamed and others to bill for services not rendered.
Angela Ruth Johnson, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, is charged in Ramsey County District Court with six felony theft offenses for her role in Mohamed’s scheme at Always on Time. Johnson conspired with others, most notably Mohamed, to allow Always on Time to bill for services not rendered.
Kiddjazzminne Cherrall Freeman, of Minneapolis, is charged in Hennepin County District Court with four counts of felony theft, five counts of financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult, one count of criminal neglect of a vulnerable adult, one count of identity theft, and one count of financial transaction card fraud. Freeman’s acts led to billing of the Minnesota Medical Assistance program of more than $17,000 for services not rendered.
Separately, Freeman financially exploited the vulnerable adult she was charged with caring for by using more than $11,000 of the vulnerable adult’s money for her own purposes, rather than those benefiting the vulnerable adult, and neglected the vulnerable adult by failing to provide health care and supervision. Finally, Freeman stole the vulnerable adult’s identity and used it to obtain an EBT card in the vulnerable adult’s name, which Freeman then used for her own purposes.
Freeman’s case was referred to MFCU by the Richfield Police Department, and the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office later referred the financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult and related crimes to the Attorney General for prosecution under Minnesota Statutes sec. 8.01, which provides, “Upon request of the county attorney, the attorney general shall appear in court in such criminal cases as the attorney general deems proper.” Freeman’s case was investigated by the MFCU and Richfield Police Department. The MFCU also thanks Hennepin County Adult Protective Services for their assistance.
Other charges filed today
Michelle Tyrese Lucas Reed, of Minneapolis, is charged in Hennepin County District Court with six felony theft offenses for bilking the Minnesota Medical Assistance program out of over $42,000. Reed claimed to provide personal care assistant services and home and community-based services while she was clocked in at other jobs, including at Hennepin County and North Memorial. At times, Reed claimed to regularly work for over 17 hours a day between her jobs, including at times over 20 hours per day. Reed’s case was opened by MFCU based on documented connections to other providers and was investigated by the MFCU.
Letrice Spigner, of Minneapolis, is charged in Ramsey County District Court with five felony theft counts for defrauding the Minnesota Medical Assistance program out of more $77,000. Spigner reported providing personal care assistant and homemaker services during the same times she was clocked in and working onsite at another job. Spigner’s case was referred to MFCU by the Minnesota Department of Human Services’ Medicaid Provider Audits and Investigations division, and was investigated by the MFCU.
Chala Bekama Alemo, of Saint Paul, is charged in Hennepin County District Court with four felony theft offenses for defrauding the Minnesota Medical Assistance program out of more than $34,000. Alemo claimed to provide personal care assistant and home and community-based services at times when he did not. Alemo’s case was referred to the MFCU by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and was investigated by the MFCU, BCA, and Saint Paul Police Department.
Attorney General Ellison’s MFCU is prosecuting all these cases. A charge is merely an allegation, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
How Attorney General Ellison’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit works, and its success
MFCU staff investigate and prosecute cases of Medicaid fraud, as do Medicaid fraud control units in all 50 states. Minnesota’s MFCU receives referrals from state agencies or managed-care organizations who, pursuant to federal law, refer investigations to the Unit when they find a credible allegation of fraud. The MFCU also opens investigations after receiving tips from the public, referrals from other law enforcement agencies or State agencies, and based on its own internal investigative findings. These charges include some cases referred to MFCU by DHS or managed care entities; some cases referred to MFCU by State or local law enforcement agencies; and some cases opened and investigated based on the MFCU’s own deliberate, internal process of investigating billing anomalies and connections between suspicious providers.
Since 2019, Minnesota’s MFCU has secured 358 convictions for Medicaid fraud — one approximately every eight days that Attorney General Ellison has been in office — and has won $90 million in judgments and recoveries. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General has noted that Minnesota’s MFCU has secured more convictions than any state in the country with a similar-size Medicaid budget. In May 2026, the Minnesota Legislature passed and Governor Walz signed the Medical Assistance Protection Act, which provides MFCU with new resources and stronger legal tools to continue holding Medicaid fraudsters accountable.
The U.S. Department of Human Services Office of Inspector General recently noted that Minnesota’s MFCU “is using its resources effectively to investigate cases of possible fraud in the administration of the Medicaid program, the provision of medical assistance, or the activities of providers of medical assistance under the State Medicaid plan, and to prosecute cases or cooperate with the prosecuting authorities.” It further noted that “the Unit is extremely willing to work jointly and pursue aggressive prosecution of fraud.”
Attorney General Ellison’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit spends 100% of its time working to uncover, investigate, and prosecute individuals or organizations that steal from Medicaid and that exploit, neglect, or abuse vulnerable victims. The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit receives 75% of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $5,078,704 for Federal fiscal year (FY) 2026. The remaining 25%, totaling $1,692,898 for FY 2026, is funded by the State of Minnesota.
