In the wake of Minnesota’s still-developing social services fraud scandal, a whistleblower is alleging a similar pattern of fraud in Ohio — one she says has been operating for more than a decade and has cost taxpayers millions.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Ohio attorney and conservative commentator Mehek Cooke said “Minnesota was just the tip of the spear.”
Cooke claims that some providers in Ohio’s Somali community have told her they’ve been pressured to participate in what she describes as a “massive” Medicaid fraud scheme. According to Cooke, the alleged operation involves doctors approving home healthcare payments for relatives of elderly patients based on fabricated medical conditions — approvals she says are often granted with little scrutiny.
Cooke alleges that bad actors have exploited a feature of Ohio’s Medicaid system that allows people to receive payments — which she said can total as much as $91,000 per year per individual — for caregiving services they claim to provide to a family member. She further alleges that doctors who authorize these payments sometimes receive kickbacks.
“They’re just rubberstamping a lot of these,” Cooke said. She also claimed that, in some cases, people described as severely ill later appear active on social media, saying that what’s shown publicly doesn’t match the reported symptoms.
Cooke emphasized that she does not believe the issue is the broader community, but rather “criminals within the Somalian community” who she says have learned how to exploit weaknesses in Ohio’s system.
She pointed to the state’s home-care waiver framework, arguing that it was designed with compassion — to help people care for family members who truly need assistance — but that it’s now being manipulated.
Cooke also said she was told by some providers that speaking out could put them in danger, claiming they feared being “stoned to death” if their identities were revealed.
More broadly, Cooke argued that Ohio’s oversight mechanisms make the system vulnerable. She said the state lacks enough independent assessments, ongoing verification, and frequent unannounced checks — conditions she believes allow people to be coached to misrepresent their needs to doctors.
Cooke claimed that, based on what providers allegedly told her, “99% of the time” recipients receiving the home healthcare Medicaid benefit have been coached and do not qualify.
“What we’re seeing in Minneapolis is just a snippet of what’s happening in Ohio,” she said.
Cooke urged states to more aggressively scrutinize Medicaid programs, calling for audits and stronger safeguards. “At the end of the day,” she said, “Ohio taxpayers are hurting, the American people are hurting, and we don’t have enough tax dollars.”
