Abdirashid Ismail Said, a 50-year-old Minnesota resident, has been declared a fugitive after failing to appear for a scheduled pretrial hearing in Hennepin County District Court on April 8. A judge ordered the forfeiture of his $150,000 bond and issued a nationwide arrest warrant. Authorities from the Minnesota Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, along with federal law enforcement, are actively working to locate him. Reports suggest Said may have left the country after boarding a flight undetected, despite earlier warnings from prosecutors about the risks of his release.
Said is accused of playing a central role in one of Minnesota’s largest public welfare fraud cases. In December 2023, Attorney General Keith Ellison charged Said and two alleged co-conspirators, Ali Abdirizak Ahmed and Said Awil Ibrahim, with multiple felony counts tied to an alleged scheme that defrauded the state’s Medicaid program of nearly $11 million between 2019 and 2023. The charges against Said include racketeering, theft by swindle, and perjury.
According to prosecutors, Said secretly controlled three Medicaid-funded care agencies—Faym Health Services, Prestige Health LLC, and Minnesota Home Health Care LLC—while being legally prohibited from any involvement in such programs. The agencies allegedly received over $10.9 million in Medicaid payments under his covert management. Authorities claim the scheme involved billing for services that were not provided, improperly documented, or ineligible for payment, including cases where recipients denied receiving any care.
Said had previously been convicted in a related Medicaid fraud case in 2022, ordered to repay $77,000, and permanently barred from working with Medicaid-funded agencies. Investigators say he violated those restrictions and later committed perjury by falsely denying his involvement with the businesses. Following his failure to appear in court, officials have reaffirmed their commitment to locating him and continuing the investigation.