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A Republican state senator in Minnesota called a judge a “true extremist” after she overturned a $7.2 million tax fraud conviction.
Abdifatah Yusuf and his wife, Lul Ahmed, were indicted in June 2024 and accused of stealing $7.2 million from the state’s Medicaid program while operating a home health care business. The Minnesota attorney general’s office said the company did not have an office building and operated “for years without a mailbox.”
The attorney general’s office said Yusuf received Medicaid money by billing for services not provided and services lacking “any documentation,” and by overbilling for services.
Yusuf allegedly used the money to fund a “lavish lifestyle,” including shopping sprees at luxury stores such as Coach, Michael Kors, Nike, Nordstrom and more.
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Judge Sarah West overturned Abdifatah Yusuf’s verdict. (Minnesota Courts and Google Maps)
Yusuf transferred more than $1 million from the business account to his personal account and also withdrew more than $387,000 in cash, the attorney general’s office said.
A jury found Yusuf guilty of six counts of aiding and abetting theft by fraud, worth more than $35,000, in August. However, this decision was overturned by Judge Sarah West in a judgment handed down in mid-November, according to KARE.
In his ruling, West wrote that prosecutors “relied heavily on circumstantial evidence,” adding that the state was not excluding other potential “reasonable inferences.”
The judge added that she was, however, “troubled by the manner in which the fraud was allowed to be perpetuated at Promise Health.”
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Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison arrives on stage during day three of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on August 21, 2024, in Chicago, Illinois. His office appealed West’s decision to overturn Yusuf’s verdict. (Getty Images)
Minnesota Republican Sen. Michael Holmstrom said in an interview that West was a “true extremist.”
“Judicial reform is needed in Minnesota… This was not an extreme situation,” Holmstrom told Fox News Digital. “That’s exactly how she works.”
“I think she is a true extremist, that her ideology is running her court and harming our justice system. Minnesotans are wondering whether or not the justice system can be trusted. And with judges like this, I understand why,” he added.
Holmstrom said he noticed that one of the sealed exhibits in Yusuf’s case contained an international warrant addressed to an undisclosed person in an unknown country. Holmstrom said he requested to see the exhibit, which has not yet been granted.
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“I want to know what happened, and I think Minnesotans honestly deserve to know what their tax dollars are going to be used for and how these remittances work,” he said.
Holmstrom added that he was “outraged” upon learning that West had overturned Yusuf’s conviction, arguing that it was “not within his authority” to make the decision.
Ben Walfoort, foreman of the jury in Yusuf’s case, said the decision to convict was not complicated.
“It wasn’t a difficult decision at all,” he said, according to KARE. “The deliberation probably lasted four hours at most. Based on the evidence presented by the state, it was beyond a reasonable doubt,” Walfoort said. “I’m shocked. I’m shocked by all the evidence that was presented to us and the obvious culpability that we found from that evidence.”
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Democratic Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison during a press conference on June 3, 2020. (REUTERS/Eric Miller)
The Minnesota attorney general’s office, led by Democrat Keith Ellison, appealed West’s decision to overturn Yusuf’s verdict.
Minnesota is grappling with fraud issues, including the Feeding Our Future program, which involved hundreds of millions of dollars in misappropriated funds related to COVID-19. The alleged fraud comes from Minnesota’s Medicaid Housing Stabilization Services program, Feeding Our Future and other organizations.
On November 21, President Donald Trump ended protections against deportation of Somalis in Minnesota, saying “Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of this great state and BILLIONS of dollars are missing.”
His decision came after a report from the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, claimed that millions of dollars were being funneled to Al-Shabaab, a Somali terrorist group, linked to the Feeding Our Future scam.
Fox News Digital has reached out to a representative for West and Yusuf’s attorney for comment.
Yusuf’s lawyer Ian Birrell said West made the right decision, adding his client had been wrongly accused.
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“Judge West’s decision confirms what we have maintained all along: our client, Mr. Yusuf, was wrongly accused and did not commit fraud or racketeering,” he said, KARE reported. “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 evidence and the law.”
