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A judge in Minnesota is facing heat after she overturned a guilty verdict for two people convicted in a $7.2 million fraud scheme that involved taxpayer money.
Abdifatah Yusuf and his wife Lul Ahmed were charged in June 2024 after they were accused of stealing $7.2 million from the state’s Medicaid program while running a home healthcare business that lacked an office building and operated for “years out of a mailbox,” according to the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office.
Prosecutors said Yusuf received Medicaid money for services that weren’t provided and overbilled for services that didn’t have documentation. Yusuf allegedly used the money to fund a “lavish lifestyle” that included shopping sprees at “luxury clothing stores including Coach, Canada Goose, Michael Kors, Third Degree Heat, Nike, and Nordstrom.”
Yusuf directed over $1 million from the business account to his personal account and also withdrew over $387,000 in cash, the attorney general’s office said.
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Judge Sarah West overturned Abdifatah Yusuf’s verdict. (Minnesota Courts and Google Maps)
While Yusuf was found guilty of six counts of aiding and abetting theft by swindle (over $35,000) in August by a jury, the decision was overturned by Judge Sarah West in November, according to KARE.
West wrote in her decision that the case “relied heavily on circumstantial evidence,” adding that the state didn’t rule out other potential “reasonable inferences.”
The judge added she was, however, “troubled by the manner in which fraud was able to be perpetuated at Promise Health.”
Minnesota State Rep. Kristin Robbins said she was shocked upon hearing the guilty verdict was overturned.
“I was stunned. We want to strengthen state law so that we can get prosecutions out of these cases. Because clearly a jury thought he was guilty,” Robbins said.
The jury foreperson in Yusuf’s case, Ben Walfoort, said the decision to convict wasn’t complicated, and was confused by West’s decision.
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Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison testifies during the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy hearing titled Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Ripe for Reform, in Rayburn Building on Thursday, March 9, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“It was not a difficult decision whatsoever. The deliberation took probably four hours at most. Based off of the state’s evidence that was presented, it was beyond a reasonable doubt,” Walfoort said. “I am shocked. I’m shocked based off of all of the evidence that was presented to us and the obvious guilt that we saw based off of the said evidence.”
Another jury member told the outlet that “we all came to an agreement pretty easily” regarding the verdict.
Yusuf’s attorney, Ian Birrell, praised West for the decision and said his client was wrongly accused, according to KARE.
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Democratic Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison at a press conference on June 3, 2020. ( REUTERS/Eric Miller)
“Judge West’s ruling affirms what we have maintained from the beginning: our client Mr. Yusuf was wrongfully accused and did not commit fraud or racketeering. The Court’s decision to enter judgments of acquittal on all charges reflects the fundamental principle that justice requires both fairness and proof. We appreciate the Court’s careful attention to the evidence and the law.”
The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, led by Democrat Keith Ellison, has filed an appeal of West’s decision to overturn Yusuf’s verdict.
Minnesota has grappled with fraud problems, including the Feeding Our Future scheme, which involved hundreds of millions of dollars in embezzled COVID-19 funds. The alleged fraud stems from Minnesota’s Medicaid Housing Stabilization Services program, Feeding Our Future and other organizations.
President Donald Trump on Nov. 21 terminated deportation protections for Somalis in Minnesota, claiming that “Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State, and BILLIONS of Dollars are missing.”
His decision came after a report from the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, alleged that millions of dollars were being funneled to Al-Shabaab, a Somali terror group, related to the Feeding Our Future scam.
Fox News Digital reached out to a representative for West and Yusuf’s attorney for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Brie Stimson contributed to this report.