Video Some in Minnesota’s Somali community are ‘professionals’ at defrauding government programs: Rep James Comer House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., discusses the alleged fraud in Minnesota and how the House is working to crack down on fraud on ‘The Big Weekend Show.’
A Minnesota Medicaid fraud defendant is expected to avoid serving jail time under a plea deal that requires him to cooperate with authorities pursuing his fugitive co-defendant, whom a judge granted bond despite warnings from law enforcement that he may flee the country.
Said Awil Ibrahim pleaded guilty May 1 under a deal with Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office that calls for five years of supervised probation and a stayed 150-day jail sentence in a nearly $11 million case Ellison’s office has called the state's largest Medicaid fraud prosecution. Per the terms of his plea agreement, he will also be required to help authorities track down his missing fugitive co-defendant, alleged mastermind Abdirashid Ismail Said.
Minnesota’s fraud scandals intensified in late 2025, as federal and state authorities expanded scrutiny into pandemic-era schemes involving suspects largely from the state’s Somali community.
MINNESOTA FRAUD SUSPECT SKIPS COURT, FORFEITS BOND, THROWING $11M MEDICAID CASE INTO DOUBT
Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison smiles as Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., raises his voice during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 12, 2026. (Kent Nishimura/Reuters)
Said testified at a hearing in 2023 that cultural misunderstanding was a factor in the fraud cases, arguing at the time that investigators did not understand that people within the Minneapolis Somali community often transfer funds to each other in ways that don't produce paper trails, local media reported at the time.
Said failed to show up for a mandated court appearance in early April after Hennepin County District Court Judge Juan Hoyos granted him a bond set at $150,000. The terms of the bond allowed Said to retain possession of his passport, even as law enforcement officials told the judge that he was a flight risk.
"Given the nature and severity of the charges, and SAID’s familial ties outside the jurisdiction of Minnesota, I believe there is a potential SAID may flee, hide, or otherwise prevent the execution of the warrant," a police detective wrote in the criminal complaint against Said. The complaint noted that Said has a wife and child in Kenya, where he is believed to have fled.
Ibrahim’s role in Said’s operation included defrauding Minnesota taxpayers of $2.2 million using false claims and paying himself over half a million dollars through the scheme. As part of his plea deal, Ibrahim has acknowledged that he stole from the state and agreed to return the $2.2 million through a payment plan that will be determined at his sentencing hearing.
His jail sentence will be stayed if he complies with probation and a payment plan.
WALZ REMOVES TOP MINNESOTA OFFICIAL ON EVE OF ‘GAUNTLET’ HEARING OVER FRAUD SCANDAL
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz testifies during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on March 4, 2026. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Investigators had pointed to texts shared between Said and Ibrahim in 2022 as evidence of the fraud.
"We gonna party bro. Insha Allah," one text from Said to Ibrahim obtained by prosecutors reads.
"Next pay period bro I’ll bill 50k ... Im gonna over bill the hours ... And do a hit and run," Ibrahim responded.
KLOBUCHAR VOWS FRAUD CRACKDOWN, AUDIT OF MN GOV’T AS GOP BLASTS WALZ TIES
Rep. Keith Ellison, then Democratic National Committee deputy chairman, speaks at a rally against Trump administration education funding cuts outside the U.S. Capitol. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Prosecutors claim Ibrahim over-reported how much time staff at his care center spent caring for patients in order to receive more money from the state than he was entitled to. As part of Ibrahim’s plea deal, authorities dismissed a racketeering charge and two additional theft charges against him.
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Said had previously been convicted of fraud in Minnesota in 2021, receiving probation and community service instead of a jail sentence.
The Minnesota attorney general’s office did not respond to a request for comment after being reached by Fox News Digital on Wednesday.
