Oversight Committee presses Scott Bessent for records amid claims of Medicaid fraud in Maine

WASHINGTON, DC: The House Oversight Committee is intensifying its investigation into alleged Medicaid fraud in Maine, pressing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to release bank records tied to a Somali-led health services contractor.

Lawmakers say the case could have broader national implications and may connect to other fraud investigations already underway.

At the center of the scrutiny is Gateway Community Financial Services and claims that Maine taxpayers were charged for services never provided.

Oversight Committee probe and alleged Medicaid fraud in Maine

According to lawmakers, the allegations emerging in Maine mirror concerns raised in Minnesota, where members of the Somali community are accused of defrauding taxpayers of $1 billion intended for social services.

Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services has already shut off Medicaid payments to Gateway after a whistleblower, Christopher Bernardini, alerted that taxpayers had been bilked out of millions of dollars from Maine’s Medicaid program. 

Audits conducted by state officials between 2015 and 2018 concluded that Gateway overbilled the state by $662,000. As a result, the company was issued two notices of violation, and Maine’s Health and Human Services is still attempting to recoup more than $537,000.

In a press statement released on December 12, the contractor said it was notified this week of Maine’s decision to cut off Medicaid payments. 

Gateway officials said they are reviewing the allegations but continue to stand by their position that they have done nothing wrong. The company also pledged to cooperate fully with any oversight committee investigations.

The Oversight Committee has already identified Gateway founder and CEO Abdullahi Ali as a person of interest. Also named as a person of interest is Maine State Rep Deqa Dhalac, a Democrat and former assistant executive director with Gateway. 

Whistleblower Christopher Bernardini claims about Medicaid fraud

Bernardini told NewsNation that taxpayers in Maine were charged millions of dollars from the state’s Medicaid program for services that were never provided.

The whistleblower described himself as a former “billing guru” for Gateway Community Services and said he worked for the company from May 2018 until April 2025 as a program coordinator.

Bernardini alleges that Gateway oversaw a system in which false records were filed regarding client visits.

He claims an electronic monitoring system designed to track staff movements was manipulated to make it appear that field staff were visiting low-income and disabled clients, when in reality they did not come within miles of the clients’ homes.

According to Bernardini, the company then billed taxpayers for services that were never performed. "I just couldn’t fathom it — I thought we were helping people; I thought this was all on the up-and-up," Bernardini said in the interview.

He also spoke about his passion "for helping people and I thought that we were doing the right thing this whole time." He said he became increasingly disillusioned when clients contacted him to report that staff had not shown up, yet he was instructed to bill those hours anyway.

“It just got worse and worse until I started really putting up a stink,” Bernardini recalled.