Hold onto your wallets, folks—a Minnesota judge just tossed out a $7.2 million fraud conviction that had taxpayers fuming.

In a stunning reversal, Judge Sarah West overturned the guilty verdict against Abdifatah Yusuf and Lul Ahmed, a couple convicted of swindling Medicaid funds to bankroll a life of luxury, sparking outrage across the state and prompting an appeal from the Attorney General’s Office.

This saga began in June 2024 when Yusuf, 44, was charged with misappropriating Medicaid funds through a healthcare business he ran from home alongside his wife, Ahmed, 41.

Judge’s Ruling Sparks Public OutrageOK

By August 2025, a jury found Yusuf guilty on six counts of aiding and abetting theft by swindle, seemingly sealing the case with hard evidence of wrongdoing.

Yet, in mid-November 2025, Judge West, appointed by former Gov. Mark Dayton in 2018, flipped the script and voided the conviction, citing an overreliance on circumstantial evidence.

West admitted she was “troubled by the manner in which fraud was able to be perpetuated” at the couple’s now-shuttered business, but apparently not troubled enough to let the verdict stand—a head-scratcher for many who see this as justice denied.

Medicaid Money Funds Luxury Lifestyle

The details of the couple’s spending are enough to make anyone’s blood boil: luxury shopping sprees at stores like Coach and Nike, fueled by Medicaid dollars meant for the vulnerable.

Prosecutors revealed Yusuf funneled over $1 million from the business into his personal account and withdrew more than $387,000 in cash—hardly the behavior of a struggling entrepreneur.

The Attorney General’s Office pointed out that Yusuf and Ahmed ran their operation for years “out of a mailbox,” a setup that screams red flags louder than a foghorn at sea.

Attorney General Fights Back with Appeal

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison isn’t taking this lying down, filing an appeal against West’s ruling with a statement that cuts to the core of public frustration.

Ellison declared, “Stealing money meant for poor people’s healthcare and using it to buy luxury cars and designer clothes is as shameful and disgraceful as it gets.”

His words echo the sentiment of many Minnesotans, including jurors who felt their hard work was tossed aside by a single judicial pen stroke—talk about a slap in the face to accountability.

Broader Fraud Issues Plague Minnesota

Adding fuel to the fire, many in the state, including jury members, expressed deep dismay at West’s decision, wondering if justice can ever prevail in cases of blatant misuse of public funds.

This case isn’t an isolated incident; Minnesota is grappling with a massive fraud investigation tied to the Feeding Our Future scheme, where hundreds of millions in COVID-19 relief funds were allegedly embezzled.

Reports from the Manhattan Institute in late November 2025 even suggest ties between that scheme and the Somali terror group Al-Shabaab, while Gov. Tim Walz faces sharp criticism from his own Department of Human Services for oversight failures in what they’ve called “massive fraud”—a mess that’s got taxpayers demanding answers.