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| In echoes of Minneapolis, whistleblower says Maine company bilked Medicaid dollars | |
| 2025-12-13 | |
A health services contractor in Maine founded by a Somali immigrant is now accused by a whistleblower of defrauding the state’s Medicaid program, raising concerns in Congress that fraud in government programs is more widespread than previously known. The recent charges from last month connected to a $1 billion fraud ring among Somali immigrants in Minneapolis, Minnesota, have focused renewed attention from lawmakers on rooting out fraud in federally-funded programs across the country. Just days after the Minnesota fraud ring surfaced in the national conversation, a whistleblower who worked for a health services contractor in Maine came forward in a public interview and alleged the company, Gateway Community Services, defrauded the state’s Medicaid program for years. The company was founded by Abdullahi Ali, a Somali-American who also ran for office, a position equivalent to governor, in a Somali state. At the time, he was serving as Gateway’s executive director. Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, says that he plans to probe the cases in both Minnesota and Maine to determine whether similar fraud using public dollars exists elsewhere. He believes there is a high chance his committee will find more. “This does appear that it's a very organized scheme in multiple states with groups of Somalis,” Comer said in an interview with NewsNation, which first aired the whistleblower's allegations. “I would go out on a limb and say this is happening in other states with other social programs with other groups," Comer said. DEMOCRATIC GOVERNORS REFUSING TO COOPERATE Comer noted that the Trump administration is intent on rooting out fraud in these federally funded programs, but a refusal by states run by Democratic governors to turn over key data threatens to hamper the effort. His committee’s probe, Comer warned, would rely on congressional subpoena power to compel information if any state or entity refuses to turn over requested information. "Minnesota could be and hopefully is the worst offender, but there are other blue states run by Democrat governors who refuse to turn over any data, not only to Congress, but to the cabinet secretaries like [Agriculture Secretary] Brooke Rollins, who are trying to get a handle on programs like SNAP,” Comer told the Just the News, No Noise TV show on Tuesday. "If anyone that has received correspondence from us thus far requesting information, if they don't turn over that information, then they will get a subpoena. And we're serious about this. We're not going to back down," he added. STATE CHARGED FOR SERVICES NEVER PERFORMED The whistleblower in the Maine case, Christopher Bernardini, came forward in an interview with NewsNation earlier this week, recounting what he observed when he worked for Gateway Community Services as its self-described “billing guru” from May 2018 until April 2025. Bernardini said the company presided over a system in which false records were filed about client visits. He alleges that the company manipulated an electronic monitoring system designed to track staff visits to low-income and disabled clients, but staff never actually made those visits. Afterwards, Gateway charged Maine’s Medicaid program despite never performing the stated services. “I just couldn’t fathom it — I thought we were helping people; I thought this was all on the up-and-up,” Bernardini told NewsNation in an exclusive interview. “I have a passion for helping people and I thought that we were doing the right thing this whole time.” Bernardini said he grew disillusioned with his work when he “saw how they were swindling people” and when “I had clients calling me to tell me their staff hadn’t shown up and I was told to bill those hours anyway. “It just got worse and worse until I started really putting up a stink,” he said. Gateway founder Ali responded to the accusations of fraud in a post to X, according to NewsNation. The post appears to have been deleted, and his account appears to be locked. “I make no apologies for building a successful business in Maine, working hard to earn a living, earning my PhD, giving back to my Maine community, and running for office in Jubaland,” he wrote, according to The Hill. “I am proud to contribute my hard-earned $ to support my people back home. America is a nation of laws—you cannot change facts by fabricating false stories. I am proud Somali-American.” Ali started Gateway Community Services in 2015 in Portland, Maine. It is a for-profit company that provides behavioral health services that include mental health counseling and services for children with intellectual disabilities. Gateway, along with its sister nonprofit organization, Gateway Community Services Maine, employs more than 250 people across the state, the Portland Press Herald reported in a profile of Ali last year. ALLEGATIONS DATING BACK TO 2022 Gateway first came to the attention of the state’s Medicaid system’s integrity unit years ago, NewsNation reported. On March 22, 2022, the company received a notice of violation from the Medicaid system, known as MaineCare, alleging the government had overpaid for Gateway’s services by more than $900,000. The estimate was later revised down to just over $770,000. The state believed it had overpaid Gateway because documentation did not have matching start and stop times and there were missing signature dates. While Ali led the company, he also unsuccessfully ran for political office in his native Somalia, the presidency of one of the country’s southern provinces, Jubaland. In an interview with Kenyan media, Ali bragged that he had raised funds for the Jubaland-Somali army–a paramilitary force–providing them with resources to help buy “weapons, bullets and food.” The admission raised concerns he had funneled taxpayer money into the African country, the Maine Wire reported earlier this year. Bernardini told NewsNation the questionable activity ramped up during the COVID-19 pandemic when the federal government made available close to $1 trillion as part of the Paycheck Protection Program. “Once the PPP loan stuff started going on, this one really ticked me off because, all of a sudden, I started seeing these staff come aboard. They’d be on board for two or three weeks,” Bernardini said. “No hours worked. I’d put in their training hours. That's because, again, I was doing the time cards and I started seeing bonuses, $2,000 bonuses, going to these staff that had only been with us for two weeks. Never worked a shift with a client and yet the PPP loan comes, they’re giving $2,000 away like they’re lollipops at a doctor’s office and I’m like, ‘Where the hell’s my $2,000 bonus, I’ve been here six, seven years.’” All of this prompted Bernardini to submit a tip to the Maine State auditor’s office in the Spring of 2024. He said he was asked to provide information for the audit several times. However, Gateway ended Bernardini’s contract in April 2025. “I’ve been waiting patiently for this to blow up, and I knew it would eventually,” Bernardini said in the interview. “I only wish I would have spoken up sooner.” Related: Maine: 2025-11-23 States push back on exclusion of noncitizens from SNAP Maine: 2025-11-20 130 Democrat congressional representatives urge SCOTUS to side with trans athlete in Title IX legal battle Maine: 2025-11-15 Backgrounder: Who Are the 47 Members of Congress Not Seeking Reelection in 2026 Related: Abdullahi Ali 08/03/2025 Troops kill 5 most wanted terrorist commanders — DHQ - Vanguard News Abdullahi Ali 05/10/2024 Southwest State Forces Kill 2 Shaboobniks, Capture 12 Abdullahi Ali 08/21/2023 Al-Shabaab war gains momentum in Somalia | |
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