JUST IN: Blue State Suspends Funds To Somali ‘Charity’ After Extra Fraud Is Found
Maine health officials have suspended payments to a nonprofit serving Somalians after a third audit found the group had overpaid by more than $1 million in taxpayer-funded Medicaid funds.
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services has temporarily suspended all payments to Gateway Community Services following a review that found the organization was overpaid $1,068,598 between March 2021 and December 2022.
A DHHS spokesperson told 8 Investigates on Tuesday that the Office of MaineCare Services’ Program Integrity Unit launched the audit in January 2023 after internal data analytics flagged concerns.
The latest findings come on top of earlier overpayments. Documents obtained by 8 Investigates last month showed that Gateway had overpaid the state by $662,608 between 2015 and 2018. DHHS said those overpayments were uncovered through two multiyear audits triggered by complaints.
An attorney for Gateway confirmed in an email to 8 Investigates that the nonprofit recently received a notice from the Program Integrity Unit stating its MaineCare reimbursements were being paused over allegations of improper billing for interpreter services.
“Gateway has very little information about what this is based upon besides that notice and it will take time to review and respond to these allegations,” the attorney said in the email. “Gateway stands by its previous statements on this issue and will continue to cooperate with the state as it has in the past.”
The case has drawn scrutiny from Republicans in Maine and nationally, who have called for investigations into organizations that work with immigrants while receiving federal Medicaid funding.
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Gateway Community Services, which operates in Portland and Lewiston, works primarily with Somali immigrants in Maine. The nonprofit has also had close ties to sitting lawmakers. Rep. Deqa Dhalac, D-South Portland, previously served as the group’s assistant executive director.
Rep. Yusuf Yusuf, D-Portland, once stated in his legislative profile that he worked closely with Gateway, a reference that was later removed after questions surfaced about the organization.
State Auditor Matt Dunlap told 8 Investigates that Gateway will be included in this year’s state audit, scheduled for release in March.
At the federal level, U.S. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer has put Gateway squarely on his radar. Comer named Gateway Community Services and Dhalac as “organizations or persons of interest” in a letter sent Monday to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, seeking suspicious activity reports tied to an Oversight Committee probe into hundreds of millions of dollars in alleged social services fraud.
Dhalac did not respond to a request for comment from 8 Investigates.
Comer also pressed Maine officials earlier this year. In September, he sent a letter to Gov. Janet Mills and DHHS Commissioner Sara Gagne-Holmes requesting records, including the names of state and local programs that provide health coverage and other services to undocumented immigrants, as part of an investigation into “waste, fraud and abuse.” No specific organizations were named in that request.
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