(NewsNation) — Republican lawmakers in Maine blamed state Democrats, including the governor, for ignoring a health services contractor that defrauded the state’s Medicaid program of millions of dollars. Now, they are calling for full accountability into an issue they fear is just the tip of the iceberg of widespread fraud.
In an exclusive interview with NewsNation earlier this month, whistleblower Christopher Bernardini alleged that Gateway Community Services filed false claims for visits to disabled and low-income clients, though the services were never performed.
In a news conference on Tuesday, Republicans maintained that the fraud found inside Gateway only scratches the surface of what is happening across the state. Republican State Sen. Matt Harrington said that the fraud has “disturbing similarities” to to ongoing fraud investigations in Minnesota, where people in the Somali community are accused of defrauding taxpayers of social services funds.
“We all knew this fraud was real and happening,” Harrington said Tuesday. “Yet, despite all this, what remains most striking is the complete silence from Maine Democrats.”
Gateway responds to Republicans allegations of fraudulent activity
A Gateway Community Services spokesperson told NewsNation Tuesday that Republican lawmakers have treated allegations of fraud as fact. The spokesperson said that the allegations are being “used as a wedge issue in a high-stakes election year.”
“Gateway stands by its responses to these allegations and will continue to cooperate with oversight agencies, as it has done,” the spokesperson told NewsNation.
In addition, the spokesperson said that the non-profit and for-profit arms of the organization have continually been conflated. Both sectors were created by Gateway Chief Executive Officer Abdullahi Ali. However, the attorney said that the non-profit arm does not engage with the MaineCare work, which remains at the center of the fraud allegations.
The non-profit arm of Gateway cut ties with Ali earlier this year. However, that has not stopped several officials, including U.S. Rep. James Comer and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent – both of whom have called for a federal investigation into the allegations – from confusing the two distinct sectors.
The two arms of the company are legally and financially separate, the Gateway spokesperson said Tuesday, adding that the not-for-profit sector has its own Board of Governors.
The story surrounding possible fraud gets too big to ignore
NewsNation was among the national news organizations that delved into potential fraud at Gateway. Bernardini, the contractor’s self-described “billing guru,” told NewsNation he “just couldn’t fathom it — I thought we were helping people.”
“When I had clients calling me to tell me their staff hadn’t shown up and I was told to bill those hours anyway,” he said. “It just got worse and worse until I started really putting up a stink.”
The Somali American-led organization has since issued a news release addressing Bernardini’s claims: “These allegations are false. Gateway Community Services maintains strict billing, documentation, and compliance protocols and has cooperated with state oversight agencies.”
Harrington said the incident has been brewing for months.
“I demanded a full investigation when I heard initial reporting about this welfare fraud scandal last May,” Harrington told NewsNation.
GOP accuses Maine Democrats of being interwoven with Somali-led company
On Tuesday, Harrington accused Maine Democrats of being “interwoven” with Gateway, which had about 80% of its claims proven fraudulent, Republicans allege. Now, Harrington and other GOP lawmakers are calling for Democrats to fully cooperate with a federal investigation of Medicaid fraud across the state.
“That means making documents available, that means answering questions, that means ending any effort to obstruct or delay the truth,” Harrington said.
He added: “It’s not about politics, it’s about accountability and we (Republicans) will not stop asking questions until we get the truth.”
Like his counterparts in Minnesota, Harrington has placed blame on the state’s Democratic governor, Janet Mills, for the potential fraud going unchecked.
“The Mills administration has neglected obvious and credible reports of Somali-linked systemic fraud in the MaineCare system,” Harrington said. “This is an outrageous betrayal of Maine taxpayers.”
Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services has already shut off Medicaid payments to Gateway, and the House Oversight Committee is pushing Bessent, the treasury secretary, to release pertinent bank records.
Maine Republican State Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham said that he and other Republicans saw signals of fraudulent activity. He said that evidence grew from Gateway’s around $3 million in Medicaid billing, $2.4 million of which proved to be fraudulent.
Faulkingham said he sent a letter to Mills outlining his concerns and has also passed on the detailed letter that alleges widespread fraud around the state legislature. Faulkingham said Tuesday he has not gotten any response.
“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire and there was a path leading to that fraud,” Faulkingham said.
Meanwhile, Republican State Rep. Katrina Smith said that her constituents and Maine taxpayers have “had enough” of fraud, waste and lies. Smith that that the $800,000 in Medicaid fraud is only the “tip of the iceberg” in what is happening in Maine.
Republican State Sen. Trey Stewart agreed.
“This is going to have implications for the State of Maine in the billions, with a ‘B’, of dollars,” Stewart said at Tuesday’s news conference. “This will spell financial Armageddon for our state. We have to get a handle on this problem.”
NewsNation has reached out to Mills’ office and the offices of MaineCare for comment. Neither has responded to the requests.
NewsNation’s Anna Kutz and Jeff Arnold contributed to this report.