Audit results acquired by The Maine Wire have revealed that the taxpayer funded migrant resettlement non-profit Maine Immigrant and Refugee Services (MEIRS) has overcharged MaineCare by more than a million dollars in recent years.
[RELATED: Catholic Charities Maine Touts Taxpayer-Funded Migrant Resettlement Plans…]
Audits conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services’ (DHHS) Program Integrity (PI) division reveal that the Lewiston-based MEIRS has been overcharging MainCare since at least 2013.
The audits show that MEIRS was charging MaineCare for various, non-eligible expenses, including more than $80 for bringing an immigrant to McDonalds for “a snack,” ferrying immigrants to and from doctor’s appointments, and driving one to a parent meeting at a school.
PI discovered that, between 2013 and 2016, MEIRS overcharged MaineCare by $17,996.
MEIRS was apparently unperturbed by the PI findings, because it significantly increased its overcharging practices in subsequent years, billing taxpayers for more than a million dollars between 2015 and 2017, according to the audit.
The PI audit, conducted in 2018, initially discovered overcharging violations amounting to $2,448,978, which is roughly 136 times larger than the overcharges discovered in the previous audit.
These overcharges included numerous instances of required paperwork being filled out improperly, or not being filled out at all.
The audit also found that MEIRS was billing MaineCare for completing paperwork, something which is entirely ineligible for MaineCare coverage.
MEIRS also billed MaineCare for interpreter services that were never actually provided, essentially billing Maine taxpayers for fabricated services.
Finally, PI found that MEIRS had been using MaineCare funds to provide services from unlicensed counselors and mental health therapists, along with using unlicensed individuals to determine the eligibility of immigrants for services.
MEIRS was then ordered to repay the significant debt immediately, but the non-profit appealed the decision, and provided some of the documentation which had been found lacking in the initial audit.
The appeal led the DHHS to reduce the amount of debt owed by the non-profit by $846,544, meaning that they still owed $1,602,433.
It is unclear from the documents acquired by The Maine Wire whether the debt was repaid, or, if it was, how the money was reacquired by the state.
The state threatened to reacquire the money through foreclosures or offsets, meaning that the state would withhold future funding until the fraudulently obtained money was offset.
Following the massive debt, MEIRS continued to overcharge, but to a far lesser degree. Audits conducted more recently found over billing of roughly $20,000 in 2020 and $44,000 in 2022.
The Maine Wire reached out to MEIRS to ask about their overcharging, but they did not immediately respond.
“Our dedicated staff works diligently to prepare housing for incoming refugees, ensuring it is furnished and ready for their arrival,” the website states. “We go the extra mile by personally greeting refugees at the airport and assisting with transportation to their new homes.”
In addition to services for refugees, the taxpayer-funded non-profit also helps migrants who entered the country illegally apply for asylum in order to remain in the U.S. on parole. MEIRS said it was accredited by the U.S. Department of Justice to provide asylum-related services in 2021.
“It is worth noting that MEIRS is one of only two nonprofits in Maine with this prestigious accreditation,” MEIRS states on its website.
According to it’s website, MEIRS serves as a “resettlement agency” under the Ethiopian Community Development Council (ECDC).
The ECDC, also a taxpayer-funded non-governmental organization, received taxpayer-funded grants totaling
According to tax filings from 2021, ECDC took in more than $62.6 million in taxpayer-funded grants that year.
Despite its extreme fiscal irresponsibility, MEIRS, along with Catholic Charities Maine and the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine, were approved by Gov. Janet Mills to re-settle twice the number of immigrants in 2024 as they did in 2023.
