In the News
Minnesota woman convicted in $3.6 million Medicaid housing fraud scheme
PN Team • 4 weeks ago
A federal jury in St. Paul convicted Sharmaine Meadows, 45, of Lake Elmo, Minnesota, on three counts of health care fraud for a scheme that stole $3.6 million from the now-defunct Minnesota Medicaid Housing Stabilization Services Program. Prosecutors said Meadows billed the program for housing services meant to help unhoused Medicaid beneficiaries, but the services were never actually provided.
Evidence showed Meadows directed employees to bill the maximum allowed hours regardless of whether work was done, including claims for in-person services supposedly performed by workers based in Illinois and the Philippines, some paid as little as $6 an hour. She also billed for services during periods when beneficiaries were hospitalized. The program paid her company more than $3.6 million between 2020 and 2025 before shutting down after costs vastly exceeded projections. Meadows faces up to 10 years in prison per count at sentencing. The case was brought under the Justice Department's newly formed Fraud Division, part of a broader health care fraud crackdown.