Two Minneapolis men who ran a business providing adult day care services to individuals enrolled in the Minnesota Medicaid program were recently charged with tax evasion and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
According to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice, Faysal Sayid and Muhumed Ali were both charged in the case and are scheduled to make their first court appearances August 9 in the U.S. District Court in St. Paul.
U.S. Attorney Erica MacDonald announced the federal indictment against them on July 26, charging Sayid with three counts of income-tax evasion, Ali with two counts of income-tax evasion, and one count to each of them for conspiracy to defraud the United States.
The indictment states Sayid and Ali co-owned and operated Meisa Group, LLC, which provided adult day care services to Minnesotans enrolled in the state’s Medicaid Program. Between 2012 and 2014, the indictment says, they each “received more than $1 million from Meisa’s operating accounts and used much of the funds to pay for their own living expenses, including clothing, travel, entertainment, and automobiles.”
Additionally, the two men “created falsified financial records including profit and loss statements, fabricated invoices, and failed to report or pay individual incomes taxes on the income.”
Minnesota’s Medicaid program, known as Medical Assistance, is run by the state’s Department of Human Services, an agency that has been embroiled in controversy for the past several months.
As The Minnesota Sun reported, all 55 members of the Minnesota House Republican caucus signed a letter to House Speaker Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park) requesting that she agree to hold hearings on DHS during the House’s upcoming “mini-session” in Winona.
A report from the Office of the Legislative Auditor released earlier this year confirmed that millions of dollars in government payments went to fraudulent child care centers under the state’s Child Care Assistance Program, also run by DHS. As a result of that report, Inspector General Carolyn Ham was placed on “investigative leave.”
“While DHS’s fraud watchdog was asleep on the front porch, the feds were putting together a case to prosecute two Minneapolis fraudsters who stole taxpayer money and failed to report the crime,” State Rep. Jeremy Munson (R-Lake Crystal) said of the latest news.
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News, The Ohio Star, and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Background Photo “United States District Court of Minnesota” by the Department of Justice.
