Last week I told you that yet to be identified immigrants were arrested in Houston and possibly other cities on medicare fraud charges. Here is an old case, from 2007, where a Somali woman was convicted of bilking medicaid for $1.5 million. Sent to me by a reader, I’m posting it now to give you an idea of at least one form these scams may take.
From the Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Indadeeq Omar, the niece of a former Somali president and a prominent member of the Twin Cities Somali community, was convicted Thursday of a wide-ranging health care fraud and money laundering conspiracy after a six-day federal court trial in Minneapolis.
Jurors found that Omar, 44, of Eden Prairie, participated in a scheme that bilked more than $1.5 million in medical assistance payments between 2001 and 2004, ostensibly for interpreting services that were never provided. The indictment says that Omar, her husband, Mohamed Essa, and a former Medica employee named Tou Chaiker Vang conspired to submit phony bills for the services.
Vang, 39, of Maplewood, pleaded guilty in the case and testified against Omar. Essa, 51, has fled and remains a fugitive. That left just Omar to stand trial.
And, to all of you who have asked me over the last two years how certain immigrants seem to have lots of stuff—like nice cars!—it seems this is how Ms. Omar got stuff!
Marti told jurors in his closing arguments that Omar and her husband had spent the money they got from the scheme lavishly. They spent $18,000 to whiten Omar’s teeth. They paid $205,985 in cash for a down-payment on their $600,000 house. They paid $43,000 for a custom Chrysler 300 C sedan. And they paid about $45,000 a year in tuition for their three daughters, ages 9, 15 and 17, to attend the International School, he said.
Omar, who in 2002 received an award for her work with Somali refugees, now faces decades in prison.
I don’t know what happened finally and whether she is in jail or not. Or whether authorities ever found her husband who skipped town (probably skipped to Africa!). If anyone knows, please let me know!