By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2026-08-19 06:42:06 | Updated at 2026-08-19 06:51:04
21 minutes ago
A Somali native once given Minnesota's 'Outstanding Refugee Award for Entrepreneurship' has been charged over his suspected role in an alleged Medicare fraud scheme.
Salman Ahmed Elmi, 30, was charged with aiding and abetting theft alongside three other associates who are accused of running four fake agencies in the state that scammed the government out of $4.5million dating back to 2023.
Elmi's company, Reva Health, claimed to give Medicaid recipients adult rehabilitative mental health services.
Instead, Elmi and his co-conspirators used fake documents to gain millions in Medicaid funds, while telling their employees to pay recipients illegal kickbacks in a deal to use personal information for their phony claims.
He was charged last week with three counts of aiding and abetting theft by swindle and five counts of aiding and abetting theft by false representation.
Three of Elmi's co-conspirators were charged in a separate case alleging they used the scheme as a front for sex trafficking.
Frank Reeves, Viktoriya Komonash, and Andrea Sampson are all accused of attempting to lure drug addicted and homeless women into prostitution, while renting apartments using their names.
They would then allegedly swipe the identities and information of the men who were paying the women for sex and used them to bill Medicaid.
Salman Ahmed Elmi, 30, won the Outstanding Refugee Award from the Minnesota Department of Human Services in 2021
He was charged with aiding and abetting theft alongside three other alleged associates who stand accused of running four fake agencies in the state
Elmi's company, Reva Health, claimed to give Medicaid recipients adult rehabilitative mental health services
Investigators have been looking into the alleged sex trafficking ring since 2019 and charged Reeves, Sampson and Komonash last week with 26 felony counts each.
Elmi has not been charged in connection with sex trafficking, although investigators claimed he and Reeves spoke regularly about both the Medicare fraud and sex trafficking schemes.
He was released on Monday but forced to surrender his passport and stay in the state. His next hearing is scheduled for October 4.
Elmi allegedly parlayed his AI business Tavolo, which got an investment from Shark Tank's 'Mr Wonderful' Kevin O'Leary, into starting Reva Health, The National Review reported.
He spoke about achieving 'the American dream' in a profile regarding Tavolo, which is an AI marketing app for restaurants.
'No one owns businesses in my family; my entire family came here with the idea that the American dream was just getting a job and making it work, so shifting that mindset was difficult but important,' he said in the profile.
'Navigating those treacherous waters allowed me to provide for my family and work on my terms.'
Elmi won the Outstanding Refugee Award from the Minnesota Department of Human Services in 2021.
The department condemned Elmi in a statement to The St Paul Pioneer Press.
Three of Elmi's co-conspirators were charged in a separate case alleging they used the scheme as a front for sex trafficking. Pictured: Reva Health's address
'Elmi's alleged actions are disturbing and do not reflect the goal of the Outstanding Refugee Awards. They also do not represent Minnesota's refugee community. We are surrounded by neighbors, co-workers, employees and friends with powerful stories of resilience in the face of difficult circumstances, who are showing leadership in small as well as large ways to improve their communities,' the department said.
The award, which was discontinued in 2024, was 'a way to recognize some of the individuals who make Minnesota better for all of us.'
'We have taken additional actions to stop connected individuals from providing current or future services and will continue to use our enforcement authority as new information becomes available,' the department added.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Reva Health and the Minnesota Department of Human Services for comment.
Minnesota has faced accusations of not doing enough to stop fraud, often committed by members of its Somali community.
Lame duck governor Tim Walz is in a deepening scandal over scams involving state welfare, including payments to daycares and COVID-era loans. Many of the defendants indicted so far come from the Somali community.
Prosecutors have said that at least 78 people connected with the Feeding Our Future program defrauded the federal government of up to $300 million, falsely claiming reimbursement for meals served to children during the COVID-19 pandemic, making it the largest pandemic relief fraud scheme in American history.
Instead, the defendants allegedly blew the stolen money on Lamborghinis, Porsche SUVs, beachfront property in Kenya, and private villas in the Maldives.
US Attorney Joe Thompson announced in December of last year that investigators had uncovered around $9 billion in federal Medicaid funds stolen from 14 Minnesota programs since 2018. Eighty-two of the 92 defendants, charged across child nutrition, housing services and autism program scams, are Somali.
