Minnesota Appeals Court Reinstates Guilty Verdicts in $7.2M Medicaid Fraud Case

The Minnesota Court of Appeals has reinstated a jury's guilty verdict against a man convicted of orchestrating a $7.2 million Medicaid fraud scheme. The October decision reverses a post-verdict acquittal that had been granted by a district court judge, returning the case for the formal restoration of convictions against Abdifatah Abdulkadir Yusuf.

A Hennepin County jury originally found Yusuf guilty in August 2025 of six counts of aiding and abetting theft by swindle involving amounts exceeding $35,000. Jurors also found that multiple aggravating sentencing factors existed, which supported an upward departure from state sentencing guidelines.

The charges stem from a June 2024 filing by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Prosecutors demonstrated during the trial that Yusuf operated a home- and community-based services agency called Promise Health Services LLC, which supposedly provided medical assistance care to vulnerable residents but operated out of a mere mailbox rather than a physical office.

According to the state, Yusuf and his family members bilked the Medical Assistance program by billing for services that were never rendered, submitting false or missing documentation, inflating bills, and offering kickbacks to individuals to secure their enrollment. Investigators detailed how the illicit funds were funneled to support a lavish lifestyle.

Financial records showed that Yusuf transferred over $1 million from the Promise business account directly into his personal account and withdrew more than $387,000 in cash. Prosecutors also presented evidence that Yusuf and his wife spent more than $22,000 at furniture stores despite having no physical business office, upwards of $42,000 at luxury car dealerships, and more than $80,000 at high-end apparel stores including Coach, Michael Kors, Nordstrom, and Canada Goose.

Following the trial verdict, Yusuf filed a motion for a judgment of acquittal. He successfully argued before a Hennepin County District Court judge that the state failed to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that he possessed personal knowledge of the fraud and the specific intent to assist it.

Attorney General Ellison’s office appealed the district court's decision, arguing that the circumstantial evidence presented at trial overwhelmingly proved Yusuf's intent and knowledge. The Court of Appeals agreed with the prosecution, ruling that given the lack of a physical office location, extensive personal enrichment, and concealed operations, any alternative claim of innocence was unreasonable.

Expressing satisfaction with the appellate ruling, Ellison stated that Yusuf committed significant fraud against taxpayers and individuals relying on home-care services. The case was investigated jointly by the state's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General, with additional support from state commerce and human services bureaus.