By Mariane Angela
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said Monday that Somalia’s top diplomat to the United Nations has ties to a U.S.-based health care company previously targeted by federal authorities over Medicaid fraud.
In December, Deputy HHS Secretary Jim O’Neill announced a nationwide fraud crackdown, warning that Minnesota routed millions in taxpayer funds to fraudulent daycares and saying HHS moved to tighten federal payments. Writing on X, O’Neill said he could confirm public reports that Abukar Dahir Osman, Somalia’s permanent representative to the U.N. and current president of the Security Council, is associated with Progressive Health Care Services, a home health agency operating in Cincinnati.
“I can confirm public speculation that Ambassador Abukar Dahir Osman, Permanent Representative of Somalia to the UN and President of the Security Council, is in fact associated with Progressive Health Care Services, a home health agency in Cincinnati,” O’Neill wrote. “HHS has previously taken action against Progressive in response to a conviction for Medicaid fraud.”
The investigation followed after YouTuber Nick Shirley published a video showing multiple purported Somali-run daycare centers in Minnesota that appeared empty during his visits, despite reportedly receiving state funds. His 43-minute video documents repeated stops at subsidized centers with no children on site, while KSTP-TV reported that the Quality “Lerning” Center accumulated 95 violations cited by a state agency between 2019 and 2023.
Several state employees accused Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of retaliating against whistleblowers who raised alarms as federal prosecutors pursued multiple cases. (RELATED: Trump Expands Child Care Funding Freeze Beyond Minnesota)
“Tim Walz is 100% responsible for massive fraud in Minnesota,” they wrote. “We let Tim Walz know of fraud early on, hoping for a partnership in stopping fraud but no, we got the opposite response.”
Walz later said on “Meet the Press” on NBC News on Nov. 30 that Minnesota “attracts criminals.”
