A 26-year-old man who vanished to Amsterdam after being subpoenaed in a Medicaid fraud investigation is back in custody in Minnesota, having voluntarily returned to the state and self-surrendered on charges tied to a $1.4 million billing scheme. Kaamil Omar Sallah was arrested Thursday at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, nine months after he fled the country.
Sallah's return was coordinated with the federal defenders office, and U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen announced his arrest, saying Sallah fled after learning he was under investigation, according to CBS Minnesota. FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher D. Dotson said Sallah defrauded Medicaid for approximately $1.3 million, per the station's reporting. A federal indictment alleges he submitted $1.4 million in fraudulent Housing Stabilization Services claims and personally received nearly $1.3 million from the scheme, and officials say he spent $150,000 of the proceeds on cryptocurrency.
According to the indictment, cited by the same outlet, Sallah claimed more than 3,600 billable service hours of reimbursable services. He was charged with four counts of wire fraud and was indicted by a grand jury. He had a court appearance Friday in Minnesota.
A Rapid Path From Incorporation to Alleged Fraud
Sallah incorporated SafeLodgings, Inc. with the Minnesota Secretary of State in March 2023 and submitted paperwork that same month to enroll as an official Housing Stabilization Services provider, according to the Department of Justice. The program was a Medicaid-backed housing program.
Federal prosecutors allege Sallah's billing scheme involved fraudulent claims through SafeLodgings.
Subpoena, Legal Counsel, Then a Flight Abroad
Sallah was subpoenaed. After retaining legal counsel, he flew from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to Amsterdam on November 26, 2025, according to the DOJ, which noted that he fled shortly after securing representation to handle the subpoena.
At his initial court appearance Friday, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Shannon G. Elkins, a consular notice was read into the record indicating Sallah may not be a U.S. citizen, according to American Experiment. He was assigned a court-appointed public defender after pleading poverty and was ordered held in custody pending a formal detention hearing, the outlet reported.
Case Fuels Federal Legislation on Fugitive Fraudsters
Sallah's flight to Amsterdam is part of the account of his case.
A Program Built on Low Barriers, Now Dismantled
Sallah's case concerns alleged billing fraud. The allegations involve billing activity.
Federal prosecutors have said Minnesota's Housing Stabilization Services program had low entry barriers for new providers and minimal reimbursement recordkeeping requirements — structural vulnerabilities that enabled mass billing fraud to spread quickly across the state, per the DOJ. Minnesota offered Medicaid coverage for housing stabilization services.
The numbers behind that vulnerability are stark. Total payouts under the program surged from $21 million in 2021 to $104 million in 2024, with another $61 million paid out in just the first six months of 2025 before state intervention, as Hoodline previously reported. Initial state projections had estimated the program would cost just $2.5 million annually when it launched in 2020.
The Minnesota Department of Human Services froze payments to 77 Housing Stabilization Services providers in July 2025 before formally requesting that federal regulators terminate the entire program due to widespread abuse. Federal regulators terminated the program in October, according to CBS Minnesota.
Part of a Sprawling Minnesota Fraud Crackdown
Sallah is among federal defendants charged in Minnesota public-service fraud cases. Minnesota's anti-fraud oversight is part of the broader discussion.
Sallah's case follows a string of related prosecutions tied to the same housing program. Hoodline has reported on other defendants charged in connection with Housing Stabilization Services fraud, including a guilty plea entered by a St. Paul man in a separate $2.3 million billing scheme.
