Minnesota fraud: Medicaid fraud suspect goes before judge

Added: 2026-05-24

[00:00:00]Continuing our coverage of massive fraud in Minnesota, another Medicaid fraud suspect went before a judge this afternoon. This comes just a day after the feds announced charges against 15 people who they say stole more than 90 million dollars combined. Fox 9's Mike Manzoni joining us now to talk about this. So Mike, prosecutors say the suspect in court today ripped off taxpayers for millions. Yeah, Charmaine Meadows runs a business that claims to provide home health care services, but prosecutors say she billed Medicaid for millions including in cases where they say she didn't help anyone at all and they say this all went on for more than five years.

[00:00:37]The lights are out and it's now appointment only at Cradle of Love in this St. Paul strip mall. We stopped by just before owner Charmaine Meadows prepared to face a judge on fraud charges. On her company website, she brags about founding a multi-million dollar home health care agency. She also mentions that she's committed to complying with all federal laws, but prosecutors say she did nothing of the kind. In court records, they say Meadows billed Medicaid for more than 4 million dollars in bogus claims.

[00:01:11]>> This is just the beginning. Meadows' case is just one of 15 that federal prosecutors announced Thursday. They also talked about this man, Mohamed Omar, who at the time of their news conference was on the run after jumping from a balcony as the FBI closed in.

[00:01:29]Prosecutors say he and another man fraudulently billed Medicaid for more than 3 million dollars, even claiming to help a dead person find housing. If you somehow get money that goes out the door that doesn't belong to you, the FBI is going to find you, put you in handcuffs, and prosecutors are going to throw you in jail.

[00:01:48]And we reached out earlier to that St. Paul home health care business owner for comment, but we have not heard back yet, Karen Smoot. All right, thank you, Mike.