$2.5M Medicaid fraud tied to Minneapolis sex trafficking ring involving ex-Anoka County prosecutor

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - A group accused of running a sex trafficking ring in Hennepin County now faces additional allegations of Medicaid fraud, with investigators linking the scheme to millions in questionable billing.

Investigators detail how the operation worked and where the money went

What we know:

Investigators say 13 victims described being forced to pay for online ads and leave $100 in envelopes at homes in Minneapolis, St. Louis Park and Bloomington, many owned by Andrea Sampson. Prosecutors allege Frank Reeves led the operation, with Viktoriya Komonash and Katherine Thomes running websites and Sampson providing locations and helping set up shell companies to hide profits.

Drew Evans, superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said, "This was a complicated scheme. This was a scheme that was designed not only to exploit the victims in these cases, take advantage of them, but also structured to hide the money in the proceeds that was done with multiple individuals, including building out shell companies."

Mary Moriarty, Hennepin County Attorney, said, "Ms. Sampson, who was at the time working as an attorney in the Anoka County Attorney's Office, secured and provided locations for commercial sex transactions and also assisted in maintaining shell companies to hide and funnel profits from the sex trafficking ring."

Investigators say some of the homes used for sex trafficking were later converted to assisted living facilities. When FOX 9 visited these homes, only one person answered and confirmed it was now an assisted living facility, but declined to answer further questions.

Local perspective:

The attorney general’s office has filed a related fraud case against Salman Elmi, involving Sampson’s assisted living homes that billed Medicaid about $1.2 million between 2023 and 2026. In total, the AG’s office says businesses owned by Reeves, Komonash and Sampson billed about $2.5 million for autism services, housing stabilization and assisted living, much of which is suspected to be fraudulent.

Sampson, who started working as an Anoka County prosecutor in 2017, was arrested in February and is no longer employed there. Moriarty said, "It's disappointing and all kinds of things I could comment on. I think at this point, because we are in the prosecution stage of this, it is not appropriate for me to comment on that. And I know that she is no longer working there as well."

The suspects also allegedly used some sex trafficking victims to recruit fake Medicaid patients.

Three of the suspects appeared in court and had bail set at $1 million, with the possibility of lower bail under certain conditions. They are due back in court next month.

The backstory:

Investigators credit the victims for helping to bring the operation down. Evans said, "Coming forward on this with individuals that exploited them on an ongoing basis, threatened them at different times, takes true bravery and courage."

While the women involved with Reeves were all romantically linked to him, investigators believe Sampson went from being one of Reeves’ sex workers to a co-conspirator. However, it is unclear whether that happened before or after she joined the Anoka County attorney’s office.

The group’s alleged scheme spanned several years, with business conducted at multiple homes and millions in Medicaid billing tied to fraudulent services.

What we don't know:

It is still unclear exactly how and when Sampson transitioned from being a sex worker to a co-conspirator, and whether this occurred before or after she became a prosecutor in Anoka County.