Somali-born state Rep. Yusuf Yusuf (D-Portland) runs a home care business with apparent ties to an interconnected network of Somali-operated companies drawing millions in Medicaid funding, and operating out of a Portland office equipped to funnel taxpayer money back to Africa.
At the same time, Yusuf’s wife works at Legit Home Care in Portland, which faced a MaineCare audit and drew in $7,116,267 between 2019-2024, according to Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) records obtained under the Freedom of Access Act (FOAA).
Rep. Yusuf, currently serving his first term in Maine’s legislature, revealed in his source of income filing with the Maine Ethics Commission that he manages Care for Everyone and that his wife is an employee of Legit Home Care.
According to DHHS records, Care for Everyone raked in $1,212,852 in taxpayer-funded Medicaid cash from 2020 through 2024. That funding has ramped up year by year, going from only $37,018.82 in 2019 to $623,515.74 in 2024.
Yusuf’s ethics filing and DHHS Medicaid payment data list Care for Everyone’s address as 49 Dartmouth Street, Portland, but business records from OpenCorporates and records from the DHHS Division of Licensing and Regulatory Services place the business at 203 Anderson Street, Portland.
[RELATED: Portland Office Becomes a Hub for Medicaid “Home Health” and Somali Money Transfers…]
The Maine Wire has previously covered an interconnected group of Somali-operated home health care agencies, drawing a combined $13,774,554 in Medicaid funds from 2019 to 2024.
That address also houses a branch of Dahabshiil, the largest money transfer business in Africa, founded in Somalia and now based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which allows for the easy transfer of funds from the U.S. to African nations.
Yusuf’s Care for Everyone has not been subject to any audits by MaineCare and has not been accused by the agency of overbilling the taxpayer-funded healthcare program.
According to licensing records, the DHHS conducted an on-site inspection of Yusuf’s business on August 7, 2025, and found no deficiencies. It is not clear whether the on-site inspection took place at 203 Anderson Street or 49 Dartmouth Street.
Business records reveal that Care for Everyone is not Yusuf’s first foray into the realm of healthcare businesses.
On OpenCorporates, he is listed as the agent for Care for All, a now-inactive non-profit with a name extremely similar to his current enterprise. Records also show that he served as an agent for the inactive Mogadishu Market, strangely located at 49 Dartmouth Street.
While Mogadishu Market has been dissolved, Yusuf also listed Banadir Market, located at 804 Washington Ave., Portland, as his business enterprise on his Ethics Commission disclosure.
The Maine Wire paid a visit to Banadir Market and discovered that it houses a Hawala, an atypical form of money transfer that, according to ICE, can be easily used for fraud in part because it transfers money without leaving a paper trail.
“The Hawala system can be utilized by criminal organizations to transfer funds in or out of a country with little or no detection by law enforcement. Hawalas allow the transfer of millions, if not billions of dollars tracked only by a secret code and disposable scraps of paper,” said an ICE report on Hawalas.
While Yusuf’s healthcare business hasn’t faced any audits, the same can’t be said for Legit Home Care at 991 Forest Ave, Portland, where his wife, Halimo Mohamed, works.
In October 2022, MaineCare’s Office of Program Integrity sent Legit Home Care a notice of violation, ordering it to repay $39,804.06 after auditors found that it failed to provide proper documentation for some of its services.
In response, Abdulahi Aden, Legit Home Care’s registered agent, contested the audit’s findings and submitted additional documentation.
None of the additional documentation is included in the audit documents obtained by The Maine Wire under FOAA, but the paperwork convinced auditors to cancel their attempts to recoup funds.
Aden is listed on OpenCorporates as the agent for three inactive transportation businesses, two of which, New England Transportation Service and All Trucking LLC, have their addresses listed as 203 Anderson Street.
Legit Home Care was last inspected on July 31, 2025, and inspectors found no deficiencies.
According to DHHS records, Legit Home Care shares its address with two other Medicaid recipients: Frontiers Wellness Services, operated by Jason Hopkins, which received just $1,233.80 in Medicaid funds in 2024, and Blue Star Home Care, operated by Amin Sheikh, which received $4,913,406 from 2019-2024.
