A Somali-born entrepreneur who once received Minnesota’s “Outstanding Refugee Award for Entrepreneurship” is now facing criminal charges tied to an alleged Medicaid fraud operation.
Salman Ahmed Elmi, 30, has been charged with aiding and abetting theft, along with three associates accused of operating four sham agencies in Minnesota that allegedly defrauded the government of $4.5 million beginning in 2023.
Prosecutors say Elmi’s business, Reva Health, purported to provide adult rehabilitative mental health services to Medicaid recipients.
Authorities allege that instead of delivering legitimate care, Elmi and his alleged co-conspirators relied on falsified paperwork to obtain millions in Medicaid payments, while directing employees to offer illegal kickbacks to recipients in exchange for using their personal information on fraudulent claims.
Elmi was charged last week with three counts of aiding and abetting theft by swindle and five counts of aiding and abetting theft by false representation.
Three people described as Elmi’s co-conspirators were charged in a separate case that alleges the fraud scheme also served as a cover for sex trafficking.
Frank Reeves, Viktoriya Komonash and Andrea Sampson are accused of trying to draw women struggling with drug addiction and homelessness into prostitution, while allegedly renting apartments under the women’s names.
Investigators further allege the group collected identities and personal information from men who paid the women for sex, then used those details to submit Medicaid bills.
Salman Ahmed Elmi, 30, won the Outstanding Refugee Award from the Minnesota Department of Human Services in 2021
He was charged with aiding and abetting theft alongside three other alleged associates who stand accused of running four fake agencies in the state
Elmi’s company, Reva Health, claimed to give Medicaid recipients adult rehabilitative mental health services
Investigators have been looking into the alleged sex trafficking ring since 2019 and charged Reeves, Sampson and Komonash last week with 26 felony counts each.
Elmi has not been charged in connection with sex trafficking, although investigators claimed he and Reeves spoke regularly about both the Medicare fraud and sex trafficking schemes.
He was released on Monday but forced to surrender his passport and stay in the state. His next hearing is scheduled for October 4.
Elmi allegedly parlayed his AI business Tavolo, which got an investment from Shark Tank’s ‘Mr Wonderful’ Kevin O’Leary, into starting Reva Health, The National Review reported.
He spoke about achieving ‘the American dream’ in a profile regarding Tavolo, which is an AI marketing app for restaurants.
‘No one owns businesses in my family; my entire family came here with the idea that the American dream was just getting a job and making it work, so shifting that mindset was difficult but important,’ he said in the profile.
‘Navigating those treacherous waters allowed me to provide for my family and work on my terms.’
Elmi won the Outstanding Refugee Award from the Minnesota Department of Human Services in 2021.
The department condemned Elmi in a statement to The St Paul Pioneer Press.
Three of Elmi’s co-conspirators were charged in a separate case alleging they used the scheme as a front for sex trafficking. Pictured: Reva Health’s address
‘Elmi’s alleged actions are disturbing and do not reflect the goal of the Outstanding Refugee Awards. They also do not represent Minnesota’s refugee community. We are surrounded by neighbors, co-workers, employees and friends with powerful stories of resilience in the face of difficult circumstances, who are showing leadership in small as well as large ways to improve their communities,’ the department said.
The award, which was discontinued in 2024, was ‘a way to recognize some of the individuals who make Minnesota better for all of us.’
‘We have taken additional actions to stop connected individuals from providing current or future services and will continue to use our enforcement authority as new information becomes available,’ the department added.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Reva Health and the Minnesota Department of Human Services for comment.
Minnesota has faced accusations of not doing enough to stop fraud, often committed by members of its Somali community.
Lame duck governor Tim Walz is in a deepening scandal over scams involving state welfare, including payments to daycares and COVID-era loans. Many of the defendants indicted so far come from the Somali community.
Prosecutors have said that at least 78 people connected with the Feeding Our Future program defrauded the federal government of up to $300 million, falsely claiming reimbursement for meals served to children during the COVID-19 pandemic, making it the largest pandemic relief fraud scheme in American history.
Instead, the defendants allegedly blew the stolen money on Lamborghinis, Porsche SUVs, beachfront property in Kenya, and private villas in the Maldives.
US Attorney Joe Thompson announced in December of last year that investigators had uncovered around $9 billion in federal Medicaid funds stolen from 14 Minnesota programs since 2018. Eighty-two of the 92 defendants, charged across child nutrition, housing services and autism program scams, are Somali.
