SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine (WGME) — Six people working at a South Portland personal care business have been charged with participating in a years-long scheme to defraud MaineCare by billing for services that were never provided.
Community Home Health Care LLC, its owner Noora Abd and its employees Faysal Kalayaf Manahe, Adel Al Rashid, Sura Almohammed, Ethar Alyaseen and Mohammed Alkhalaf are charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud. The suspects were arrested on Tuesday. They are all U.S. citizens, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The alleged plot began in 2020 and continued until August 2026.
According to the indictment, Community Home Health Care was a licensed personal care agency that provided in-home assistance to MaineCare members.
MaineCare requires agencies to use an Electronic Visit Verification, or EVV, system to document the date, time, location, worker, and type of services provided before submitting a request for payment.
Federal prosecutors say Community Home Health Care billed MaineCare for care allegedly provided to a client even though the services were not rendered.
The indictment alleges that Alkhalaf used his co-workers’ login credentials to create records falsely demonstrating that they had provided care.
The indictment further alleges that Abd, Manahe, Al Rashid, Almohammed, Alkhalaf, and Alyaseen shared and transferred EVV usernames and passwords to create records supporting MaineCare’s false claims.
Since 2020, MaineCare has paid the company more than $600,000 for personal care services allegedly rendered to this client, although the agency later reversed approximately $35,000 in payments.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced the arrest of six people in connection with a long-running health care fraud scheme by a South Portland home health care agency. (WGME)
Alkhalaf is also accused of making false statements to the FBI. Prosecutors say he told an FBI agent on June 23 that he did not use the EVV app to record the work hours of anyone other than himself and that he did not know the login information of other workers. The indictment alleges that this statement was false.
Abd and Manahe are also charged with obstructing an investigation into a health care-related crime. The indictment alleges that after learning of the investigation, they encouraged another person not to speak to law enforcement and to give false information to investigators.
The government is seeking forfeiture of the proceeds of the alleged fraud and approximately $170,600 in cash and jewelry seized in Biddeford and Augusta.
If convicted of health care fraud conspiracy, the defendants face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, twice the total loss from the fraudulent claims.
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