MN fraud: Suspect who jumped off balcony before arrest denied release
Minnesota fraud: Authorities arrest suspect who jumped from balcony
Authorities arrested a Minnesota fraud suspect who they say initially escaped arrest when he jumped from a fourth-floor balcony. Muhammad Omar is one of 15 defendants accused of defrauding Minnesota programs out of a combined total of $90 million.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The man who federal authorities said jumped from a fourth-story balcony to escape arrest in a fraud case in Minnesota was denied release from custody on Wednesday.
Muhammad Omar in court
What we know:
Muhammad Abdulqadir Omar appeared before a judge in Minneapolis federal court Wednesday morning for arraignment and a detention hearing.
Omar had already made an initial hearing on Friday, the day after he was arrested, where a judge ordered him to be held until Wednesday's hearing.
At Wednesday's hearing, the judge was set to consider if Omar should be considered a flight risk.
Local perspective:
In court, a judge ordered Omar to be held pending his trial. Federal prosecutors showed videos and photos showing Omar's escape from FBI agents when they attempted to arrest him last week.
Omar suffered a broken leg during his leap from the fourth-story balcony and then hid at a relative's home.
Prosecutors also showed what Omar allegedly used his fraud proceeds on: purchasing property in Kenya. According to the indictment, Omar used $150,000 to buy property in Nairobi. Prosecutors argued that showed both his motivation to flee and that he had a place to go if he could get out of the country.
Before issuing her ruling, the judge noted the attempt to evade arrest was "extreme" and she doubted the court could trust Omar not to remove a GPS bracelet.
Big picture view:
Omar was among a group of 15 people whose indictments were unsealed last week for Minnesota fraud cases. The Department of Justice staged a press conference in Minnesota to announce the indictments and to announce the expansion of a fraud task force.
Fraud accusations
The backstory:
Omar is charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and aiding and abetting health care fraud.
Omar and his co-defendant, Ibrahim Bashir Abdi, are accused of targeting Minnesota's Housing Stabilization program with false claims for services that were unnecessary or never provided. In one case, prosecutors say they billed Medicaid for 92 hours of services provided after the recipient had died.
As a result of the false claims, authorities say Omar and Abdi pocketed more than $3.2 million. Omar also received an additional $480,000 from additional claims prosecutors say he submitted separate from Abdi.