Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced nine Medicaid fraud cases this week, alleging roughly $3 million in losses across state health programs. The cases involve alleged psychotherapy and home care billing, personal care assistance claims, and the alleged financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult.
Ellison announced the charges Tuesday. He said the allegations involve public programs intended to help Minnesotans who need care, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune. The attorney general's office said the nine cases allege a combined $3 million in theft. The charges are allegations; whether funds can ultimately be recovered is a separate question.
Duluth Counselor Accused of Billing for Sessions That Never Happened
Peter Jason Meilahn, a 50-year-old licensed professional clinical counselor who practiced at Franklin Family Services and also ran a practice called Individual Services, was charged with 13 felony counts tied to an alleged psychotherapy scam, the Star Tribune's report states. Investigators with the attorney general's office found 27,430 instances of claims for services that were not provided, and Meilahn submitted claims for psychotherapy services he said were delivered in offices, in recipients' homes, and via telehealth. Nineteen people told investigators they were unaware Meilahn had submitted Medicaid reimbursement claims for services allegedly provided to them or their children dating back to 2020, and on 468 days over six years, Meilahn claimed to provide more than 24 hours of service in a single day, according to the same account.
The Minnesota Department of Human Services withheld payments to Individual Services and Meilahn in August 2024 and terminated his Medicaid enrollment in January 2026, the newspaper reported. James Clark, a DHS official, said the agency shut off money and terminated providers after finding credible evidence of fraud. Managed-care insurer UCare originally detected the irregularities and referred Meilahn to state authorities, triggering a joint criminal investigation by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and the Duluth Police Department, according to the Minnesota Attorney General's Office.
Meilahn's exposure looks starkly different than it would have a year ago. Effective August 1, the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission reclassified Medicaid fraud exceeding $1 million as a Severity Level 8 offense, creating a presumptive 48-month state prison sentence even for first-time offenders with no prior criminal history points, per the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission. Under the old guidelines, a defendant with no record accused of the same conduct would likely have faced presumptive probation instead of mandatory prison time.
Roseville Home Care Ring and a Minneapolis Exploitation Case
A separate case centers on Always on Time Health Services in Roseville, which allegedly stole more than $675,000 from Minnesota's Medicaid program. Awo Mohamed and three co-conspirators were charged with felony theft offenses for allegedly billing for services that were not rendered or eligible for reimbursement, the attorney general's office said. Co-defendants Mark Anthony Johnson of Brooklyn Park, Qalid Hussein Hassan of Bloomington, and Angela Ruth Johnson of Minneapolis were charged in Ramsey County District Court in connection with the scheme, the state's announcement detailed. DHS withheld payments to Mohamed and Always on Time in September 2023 and terminated their Medicaid enrollment a year later, along with the enrollment of AK Care Center, which had been approved to provide services under Minnesota's Housing Stabilization Services program.
Charged providers also included people accused of fraudulently billing for personal care assistance and home- and community-based services more broadly. One case involved financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult: Minneapolis caregiver Kiddjazzminne Cherrall Freeman was charged in Hennepin County District Court with felony theft and financial exploitation after allegedly billing Medicaid $17,000 for unrendered services, stealing over $11,000 directly from a vulnerable adult, and fraudulently acquiring an EBT card in the victim's name, according to the attorney general's office.
A Bigger, Better-Funded Fraud Unit
The wave of cases follows a major expansion of enforcement power earlier this year. In May, the Minnesota Legislature passed the Medical Assistance Protection Act, expanding the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit from 32 to 50 personnel — adding 11 investigators, three attorneys, and four support staff — and granting investigators enhanced subpoena powers to inspect financial records, per the AM 1100 The Flag. Attorney General Keith Ellison said the unit now has more resources and people power than ever, and the Star Tribune's report notes lawmakers this year devoted money to bolster the unit's staff, gave the office additional legal tools, and raised penalties for some Medicaid fraud convictions. The unit currently has 220 open cases and has secured 358 Medicaid fraud convictions since 2019.
The unit's growth costs Minnesota relatively little directly. It operates on a 3-to-1 federal matching structure, receiving $5,078,704, or 75 percent, from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and $1,692,898, or 25 percent, from state funds for the current fiscal year, according to the attorney general's office. In July, when the attorney general's office restructured amid budget constraints and shuttered its Conviction Review Unit, officials explicitly shielded the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit from staff cuts — a decision Hoodline previously reported underscored the office's enforcement priorities.
Judgments Pile Up, But Collections Lag
The charges also arrive days after a warning from state auditors about the vulnerabilities fraudsters exploit. On September 24, the Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor released a summary of an Optum vulnerability assessment flagging widespread systemic weaknesses across state Medicaid programs, including ambiguous billing codes, vague eligibility rules, and weak provider oversight. Federal authorities have moved on a parallel track as well: in June, the U.S. Department of Justice charged 15 defendants in a separate $90 million scheme that fraudulently drained Minnesota's state-run Housing Stabilization Services program, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Still, winning a case in court is not the same as getting the money back. An August analysis of Minnesota state court records by KSTP-TV found that while the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit has secured over $90 million in legal judgments since 2019, convicted fraudsters have actually paid back only a small fraction of ordered restitution. Ellison has acknowledged as much himself, saying courts may recover some lost funds but often cannot collect what was stolen — even as his office continues to tout the judgments as a measure of success.
Referrals Are Not Case Outcomes
The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office said the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit received more fraud referrals between the start of the state fiscal year in October 2025 and February 2026 than in any previous full fiscal year—roughly three times as many, according to the office. Referrals measure incoming reports, not proven fraud, convictions, or money recovered. That referral figure does not show how many reports became investigations or led to court outcomes. It is distinct from the nine newly announced cases, which involve charges and alleged losses, and from the convictions, judgments, and collections discussed above.
