Maine Republicans Scorch Mills Admin for Enabling Alleged Somali Medicaid Fraud at Gateway Community Services

Republican lawmakers in Maine held a press conference Tuesday calling for full cooperation with federal investigators examining allegations of Medicaid fraud tied to Gateway Community Services, a migrant services agency that has received tens of millions of dollars in MaineCare payments over the past several years.

The lawmakers said the case raises serious questions about state oversight, political conflicts of interest, and the handling of whistleblower allegations that were first reported publicly more than a year ago.

Sen. Matt Harrington, the assistant Senate Republican leader of York, said Gateway came under scrutiny in May after investigative reporting detailed allegations of systematic overbilling and questionable billing practices.

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“At the time, the reporting raised very serious red flags,” Harrington said. “Patterns of overbilling and questionable practices.”

Harrington noted that while the state recently moved to suspend funding to Gateway, the action came only after national media coverage and federal attention intensified.

“This did not happen because Democratic leadership suddenly decided to act,” Harrington said. “It happened because the story would not go away.”

Gateway Community Services, founded by Somali refugee Abdullahi Ali, received approximately $28.8 million in MaineCare payments between 2019 and 2024, including: $4,380,787.27 in 2019, $5,343,145.12 in 2020, $5,536,030.98 in 2021, $4,878,840.07 in 2022, $4,485,309.85 in 2023, and $4,145,080.51 in 2024.

In addition, the company received hundreds of thousands of dollars in no-bid contracts from the Mills Administration, as well as various grants to its 501(c)3 arm, including donated money intended to victims of the Lewiston mass shooting.

In March, the Maine Wire obtained documents showing that Gateway Community Services had twice been audited by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and found on both occasions to have an extraordinarily high error rate in their billing.

In DHHS terms, an error rate refers to the frequency with which Gateway was paid taxpayer funding that it should not have been paid.

The first audit, covering the period from November 1, 2015, to October 14, 2016, resulted in a Notice of Violation issued on November 7, 2017, followed by a Final Investigative Report and Demand on July 23, 2018. Based on additional documentation, the recoupment amount was reduced from $170,982.21 to $125,058, which has since been fully repaid, closing the matter.

A second audit, spanning January 1, 2017, to December 31, 2018, and referenced as issued in 2024, included a Notice of Violation on March 22, 2022, and a Final Investigative Report and Demand on December 31, 2024. Here, the demanded amount was lowered from $776,022 to $537,550 after further review, but the case remains in appeal with the Division of Administrative Hearings at the DHHS.

Combined, the two audits account for $662,608 in total recoupments, with the first fully settled and the second still under dispute.

Given that Gateway was founded in Dec. of 2014, the records indicate that it has been over-billing MaineCare for virtually its entire existence. Yet for some reason the company was never barred from receiving such payments, and was even rewarded with extra taxpayer dollars through no-bid contracts and a recent $400,000 award from Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey.

Although the Maine Wire reported on Gateway’s over-billing issues and other controversies surrounding the organization, its founder, and its various employees, the rest of the Maine media did not pick up the story until a profile from News Nation retold the story of whistleblower Chris Bernardini, who was first identified in May by this publication.

Subsequently, the Mills Administration leaked to taxpayer-funded outlets — Maine Public and Pulse Marketing’s media arm, the Bangor Daily News — that DHHS had finally invoked the DHHS Commissioner’s discretionary power to stop payments to Gateway.

According to Republican lawmakers and public records, Gateway continued to receive funding even after multiple audit findings and while recoupment efforts were ongoing.

As recently as June, Gateway received a $400,000 grant directed to them by Attorney General Aaron Frey (D), a close ally of Gov. Mills. That grant was funded by opioid settlement money, though it’s unclear what work, if any, Gateway does around opioid abuse prevention and recovery.

Senate Republican Leader Trey Stewart (R-Aroostook) said the widespread fraud plaguing American welfare programs is a threat to every vital service upon which Mainers rely, likening the fraud epidemic to a financial armageddon.

”This didn’t just happen,” said Stewart. “It’s a system that’s designed by the left for people in their social circles. It starts all the way at the top of the federal government. With the Obama Administration, promulgated even more by the Biden Administration.”

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“It runs down to the states, to governors across the country, including Governors [Tim] Walz and Governor [Janet] Mills,” he said. “And even at the local level, you see the bad actors. You read the headlines, you see what’s happening right here in Maine, certainly in Minnesota, and I would agree with what’s been said so far, that this is just the tip of the iceberg, folks.”

Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham, the House Republican leader from Winterport, said the underlying audit information had been known to state officials well before the issue gained public attention.

“This wasn’t a mystery to state government,” Faulkingham said. “The evidence existed, and it came from DHHS.”

Faulkingham said he repeatedly raised concerns during budget negotiations and pressed for accountability measures, but said those efforts did not result in action from the administration.

Republicans also focused on Gateway’s political connections, particularly its ties to Democratic officials and operatives. Those connections have been documented extensively, exclusively, and frequently by this publication.

State Rep. Deqa Dhalac, a Democrat from South Portland, previously served in a senior leadership role at Gateway and currently sits on the Legislature’s Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee, which oversees state spending.

“These are not coincidences,” Harrington said. “They are conflicts that demand scrutiny.”

Lawmakers also cited Gateway’s involvement in affiliated organizations that engaged in voter outreach activities aligned with Democratic campaigns, including efforts during the 2022 election cycle.

One such organization, the Community Organizing Alliance (COA), is run by Safiya Khalid, a former special assistant to Gateway’s CEO. COA has recently taken steps to cover up the organizations ties to top Democrats, including deleting the organizations list of board members from its website. However, the COA board included many well-connected Democrat figures.

As The Robinson Report detailed in May:

COA’s advisory board includes Fatuma Hussein, Maureen Drouin, Chloe Maxmin, Joanne D’Arcangelo, and B.J. McCollister. Hussein and Drouin are, respectively, the heads of the Immigrant Resource Center of Maine and Maine Conservation Voters. McCollister is Troy Jackson’s former chief of staff. Maxmin is a former Democratic state senator, while D’Arcangelo is a Planned Parenthood board member. COA held multiple events with Secretary of State Shenna Bellows prior to both the 2022 election and the 2024 election, and the group is fiscally sponsored by Orono Sen. Mike Tipping’s Maine People’s Resource Center, the 501(c)3 arm of the Maine People’s Alliance — a key dark money group for Maine’s far left and part of the Arabella Advisors networks of influence groups.

Federal Investigation and State Response

The press conference followed recent actions by the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which has requested bank records and financial reports related to Gateway and its leadership as part of a broader investigation into Medicaid fraud with national implications.

U.S. Rep. Jim Comer (R-Ky.) requested in a letter to the U.S. Treasury Department banking records tied to multiple Somali Medicaid entrepreneurs, including Ali and Dhalac. Those records could show whether taxpayer funds were transmitted overseas to support Ali’s unsuccessful 2024 run for the Jubbaland presidency.

Republicans also referenced a directive issued earlier this year by the Maine attorney general’s office instructing certain state employees not to engage directly with federal investigators without prior authorization. The Robinson Report remains the only outlet in the state to have reported on that directive.

“We are calling on all state agencies to fully cooperate with federal investigators,” Harrington said. “That means making documents available and answering questions.”

Scope of Oversight Challenges

Harrington said the Gateway case may reflect broader structural weaknesses in Maine’s fraud detection system.

From 2019 to 2024, more than 5,100 entities billed MaineCare, while the Department of Health and Human Services employed 22 staff members responsible for investigating fraud across multiple assistance programs, he said.

“That is not just MaineCare,” Harrington said. “That includes SNAP, TANF, WIC, and other programs.”

Rep. Katrina Smith, the assistant House Republican leader from Palermo, said the issue goes beyond a single organization.

“Taxpayers expect their money to support legitimate services,” Smith said. “They do not expect it to be lost to waste, fraud, or mismanagement.”

Republican lawmakers credited investigative reporting and whistleblowers for bringing the Gateway allegations to light after months of limited attention.

“This story has been out there for a long time,” Faulkingham said. “It only became unavoidable once it reached the national level.”

Lawmakers said they will continue pressing for transparency as federal investigations proceed and as the Legislature prepares for future budget discussions involving MaineCare.

“This is not about politics,” Harrington said. “It’s about waste, fraud, abuse, and accountability.”