Ohio has its own Somali fraud problem, House oversight says Members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform warned that Ohio is facing a multibillion-dollar fraud crisis involving Somali and Bhutanese immigrants, mirroring a scandal in Minnesota. A reporter testified that sham home healthcare companies are suspected of defrauding Ohio’s Medicaid program of over $1.2 billion by billing for services never rendered. Democratic lawmakers criticized the rhetoric used to describe the situation, calling it hateful and a generalization of entire communities.

• Ohio faces a multibillion-dollar fraud crisis involving Somali and Bhutanese immigrants in its home health Medicaid program.
• Sham companies, primarily operated by immigrants, are allegedly billing Medicaid for services not provided.
• An estimated $1.2 billion has been stolen from the federal government through these schemes in Ohio.
• Investigators suggest a connection between fraud rings in Ohio and Minnesota, with individuals moving between the states.
• Millions of dollars in cash have reportedly been transported from Columbus, Ohio, to Minneapolis, and then sent to Somalia.
• Republican lawmakers attributed the proliferation of fraud to lax immigration policies and insufficient vetting.
• Democratic lawmakers criticized the rhetoric, calling it hateful and a generalization, while emphasizing that individuals, not entire groups, commit crimes.