SCANDAL WIDENS: Maine nonprofit with Somali ties reportedly sees state funding shut off after fraud claims

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From Fox News: A Maine health services company recently accused by a whistleblower of bilking taxpayers out of millions in Medicaid funds saw its spigot shut off this week as the state Department of Health moved to halt payments from MaineCare.

Gateway Community Services is a Portland company run by a Somali-born man who ran for president – the U.S. equivalent of governor – of Jubaland, Somalia, for what would have been a four-year term beginning in 2024, according to his campaign website.

Ali’s campaign manifesto includes a point saying he would create “robust security infrastructure” to counter Al-Shabab, while reports out of Minnesota claim their Somali-tied funds may have ended up in the hands of the terror group.

Incumbent Ahmed Mohamed Islam Madobe won that contest, which also inspired both the Mogadishu government and semi-autonomous Jubaland government in Bu’ale to issue arrest warrants for each other’s leaders over illegitimacy claims, according to Reuters.

Ali originally came to the U.S. as a refugee in 2009, became a U.S. citizen, and started several ventures, according to the Maine Wire.

Maine Wire reporter Steve Robinson shared the following details on X:

Now that the Gateway Community Services fraud has been acknowledged by even Democratic politicians in Maine, lets look at the money handed to them by @GovJanetMills (in addition to the $5M per year in MaineCare) … 🧵

Contract 1: DHHS Community-Based Services Contract
January 2022 – December 2022 | $257,250

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services awarded Gateway Community Services a $257,250 service contract covering the full calendar year. The contract required Gateway to deliver community-based support services under DHHS programming.

The agreement was signed by a DHHS deputy commissioner and by Abdullahi Ali, Gateway’s chief executive officer.

Contract 2: DHHS Suicide Prevention Grant (Garrett Lee Smith Program)
May 2022 – April 2023 | $71,945
Later in 2022, DHHS issued Gateway a $71,945 contract funded through the federal Garrett Lee Smith Youth Suicide Prevention Grant. The contract supported mental health and suicide prevention activities aligned with federal grant objectives.

The funding flowed through DHHS as a federal pass-through, adding another administrative layer between taxpayers and service delivery.

Contract 3: Department of Education – McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Services
September 2021 – August 2024 | $40,000 (original)
In September 2021, the Maine Department of Education awarded Gateway a $40,000 contract to support the state’s McKinney-Vento Homeless Education program. The contract aimed to identify and assist homeless children and families, provide wrap-around services, and support school districts through training and referrals.

Gateway was selected as a single-source provider for southern and western Maine, based largely on prior relationships and regional presence rather than a competitive process.

Contract 4: Department of Education – McKinney-Vento Contract Expansion
January 2022 – August 2024 | +$200,000 (amendment)
In February 2022, the Department of Education approved a $200,000 amendment to the McKinney-Vento contract, increasing its total value to $240,000. The amendment retroactively covered unfunded years and expanded Gateway’s scope of work.

Contract 5: DHHS Community Health Outreach Worker (CHOW) Program
January 2022 – March 2024 | $321,563
Beginning in January 2022, Gateway entered into a $321,563 agreement with DHHS to operate the Community Health Outreach Worker (CHOW) program. The contract paid migrants to go door-to-door in migrant neighborhoods and sign other migrants up from EBT cards a free health care (and help them register to vote).

Contract 6: Permanent Commission Community Consulting Contract
November 2023 – January 2024 | $2,350
In late 2023, Gateway received a $2,350 contract from the Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous, and Tribal Populations. The contract paid Gateway to organize a single, 1.5-hour community listening session in Greater Portland.

Contract 7: Department of Economic & Community Development Contract
December 2024 – September 2026 | $275,000
In December 2024, the Department of Economic and Community Development awarded Gateway a $275,000 contract for community and economic development-related services. In December 2025, the state approved an amendment extending the contract through September 2026 without adding funds.

Contract 8: Attorney General’s Office – Maine Resilience Consortium
June 2025 – May 2027 | $400,000
In May 2025, the Office of the Maine Attorney General awarded Gateway its largest identified contract: $400,000 over two years as part of the Maine Resilience Consortium.

In total, the Mills Administration handed more than $1,000,000 to Gateway Community Services in the form of vague soft-services with zero success measures.

By far the most interesting contract is the CHOW agreement, because that translated directly into migrant Democrat voters ahead of Mills’ 2022 re-election.

I’ve written extensively about that here:
https://x.com/SteveRob/status/1925675045457695073?s=20

WATCH the news report below for more details:

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