(The Center Square) – A man accused of orchestrating one of Minnesota’s largest Medicaid fraud schemes has failed to appear in court, forcing a delay in his $11 million trial and prompting a search by law enforcement.
Last week, Abdirashid Ismail Said, 50, did not show up for a scheduled pretrial hearing in Hennepin County, leading a judge to issue a warrant for his arrest. His jury trial was set to begin this week.
Said was able to leave after posting a $150,000 unconditional bond, which did not require him to surrender his passport. A lower, $50,000 conditional bond would have required him to give up travel documents, but he instead chose the higher amount with fewer restrictions.
Investigators in his case had previously warned he was a flight risk, citing Said’s family connections abroad, including a wife and child in Nairobi, Kenya.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said his office is now working with federal authorities to locate Said.
“A warrant has been issued for Mr. Said’s arrest after he failed to appear for a pre-trial hearing,” Ellison said in a statement. “My Medicaid Fraud Control Unit is working with federal law enforcement to locate Said and ensure he faces justice for the fraud he committed. This is a deeply frustrating setback, however I remain committed to doing everything I can to hold Said and other Medicaid fraudsters accountable.”
Said’s current whereabouts remain unknown, though there are multiple reports that he has left the country.
“In the unlikely event that Said ever return, Judge Hoyos has reset bail to $2 million,” said Bill Glahn, a policy fellow with Center of the American Experiment. He added that: “Campaign filings records confirm that, back in 2015, Said donated the maximum $1,000 to the state representative campaign of now-Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.”
Prosecutors allege Said was behind the largest Medicaid fraud case ever charged by the state’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, first announced in December 2023. According to investigators, Said operated three Medicaid-funded home health care agencies and used them to fraudulently bill the state for taxpayer-funded services.
Investigators say the scheme included nearly $1 million billed for patients who reported never receiving services, more than $300,000 in overbilling and over $5.8 million tied to undocumented or fraudulent claims. Said faces multiple felony charges, including racketeering, perjury and multiple counts of aiding and abetting theft by swindle.
Said was previously convicted of Medicaid fraud in 2022, ordered to pay $77,000 in restitution and barred from working with any Medicaid-funded agency. Despite that restriction, prosecutors allege he further defrauded the taxpayers of millions of dollars.
Four other individuals have already been charged in the broader investigation, and additional charges are expected as the case unfolds.
This development comes as scrutiny grows over fraud in Minnesota’s public programs, with lawmakers warning that weak oversight may have allowed billions in taxpayer dollars to be lost.
In an exclusive interview with The Center Square, state Rep. Kristin Robbins said the scale and scope of fraud in Minnesota stunned even lawmakers who pushed for years to investigate it.
“We didn’t have any idea of the breadth and the depth of the fraud here,” Robbins said.
Robbins, R-Maple Grove, is chair of the House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee in the Minnesota legislature.
She described how shocked she has been by both the scale of alleged fraud and the state’s failure to catch it—which allowed fraudsters to go undeterred for years.
“The brazenness of that is stunning to me,” Robbins said. “The fact that they don’t have a red flag on everyone who’s already been charged … is that complete dereliction of duty? I think it is.”
Independent and federal investigators now estimate the potential value of fraud schemes in Minnesota could range between $9 billion and $20 billion.
