Somalians Accused of Another Mass Medicaid Fraud Operation in Maine: Whistleblower
A Somali-owned company, Gateway Community Services, is accused of defrauding Maine’s Medicaid program by falsifying documents too claim payments for services that were not actually provided to low-income and disabled clients. A whistleblower, Christopher Bernardini, a former billing specialist at the company, revealed that employees were instructed to bill for hours even when staff failed to show up, and that electronic monitoring systems were manipulated to falsely indicate client visits. The company, owned by Abdullahi Ali-who reportedly ran for office in Somalia’s Jubaland region and claimed to fund a militia there-received $28.8 million from Maine’s Medicaid program. Similar fraud schemes in Minnesota, involving at least $1 billion and ties to Somalia, have led to federal investigations and ICE crackdowns. The scandal has also sparked political controversy in Maine, with accusations of racism arising amid debates over the issue. Government agencies and Gateway Community Services have not commented on the allegations.
A Somali-owned company may have defrauded Maine in a manner similar to schemes that ripped off at least $1 billion from Minnesota, a whistleblower told NewsNation Monday.
Christopher Bernardini, a former “billing guru” at Gateway Community Services, said that the company falsified documents to obtain payment from Maine’s Medicaid program for services to low-income and disabled clients, NewsNation reported. Abdullahi Ali, the owner of the company, reportedly ran for office in Jubaland, a region of Somalia, and boasted about funding a militia there, according to The Maine Wire.
“I have a passion for helping people and I thought that we were doing the right thing this whole time,” Bernardini told NewsNation, later adding, “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.”
A Somali non-profit leader was billing MaineCare while running to be the Warlord of Jubaland.@BigSteve207 joined @CarlHigbie to explain how the Mills administration enabled the grift: pic.twitter.com/2iSkCUk8V3
— The Maine Wire (@TheMaineWire) December 3, 2025
Bernardini told NewsNation that an electronic monitoring system intended to track field staff was manipulated to make it appear the clients were visited when staff actually failed to show up.
Gateway Community Services received $28.8 million in Medicaid funds from Maine, according to documents obtained by The Maine Wire via a Freedom of Access Act request.
Democrats in Maine have attacked Republican gubernatorial candidate Bobby Charles of Maine as a racist for raising concerns about The Maine Wire’s reports.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is surging into the Minneapolis area to target illegal immigrants from Somalia after revelations about at least $1 billion in fraud, some of which allegedly went to the radical Islamic terrorist group Al-Shabaab.
State employees accused Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota of engaging in “systemic” retaliation against whistleblowers who warned of the fraud schemes as the Justice Department is pursuing three federal cases involving the scandal.
Walz admitted during a Nov. 30 appearance on “Meet the Press” that the state “attracts criminals,” but demanded that Somali residents not be demonized when questioned about the scandal by host Kristen Welker.
Gateway Community Services and Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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