Arrested at airport, man voluntarily returns to Minnesota to face charges of defrauding $1.3 million in Housing Stabilization Services funds

Date: Sept. 11, 2026

Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov

Minneapolis – United States Attorney Daniel N. Rosen announced that Kaamil Omar Sallah was arrested at the Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) International Airport on the evening of Sept. 10, 2026. 

This arrest happened approximately nine months after the defendant flew from MSP Airport to Amsterdam on or about Nov. 26, 2025. His return was coordinated by the Federal Defenders Office after the defendant reported that he wanted to self-surrender and voluntarily return to Minnesota.

The defendant was indicted by grand jury on Dec. 16, 2025, and he is charged with four counts of wire fraud. Sallah had his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Shannon G. Elkins on Sept. 11, 2026.

According to the indictment, Sallah participated in a scheme to fraudulently receive Medicaid benefits from Minnesota’s Housing Stability Services (HSS) Program, a program designed to help people with disabilities and addictions find and maintain housing. Rather than provide such help, Sallah obtained and misappropriated funds to enrich himself and his coconspirators.

Sallah owned and operated a company called SafeLodgings, Inc. The defendant registered the company in March 2023, and in the same month, submitted paperwork to enroll the company as an HSS Program provider. The company was supposed to provide services to qualifying people in need including housing consulting, transitioning, and sustaining services.

From approximately March 2023 through August 2025, Sallah and his company fraudulently claimed to be entitled to approximately $1.4 million for providing HSS Program services and received nearly $1.3 million. Sallah knowingly submitted fake and inflated bills and his coconspirators submitted false claims that significantly overrepresented the services through SafeLodgings. In 2024 alone, Sallah claimed to have personally provided more than 3,600 billable service hours of reimbursable services. Sallah additionally hired employees to expand operations at SafeLodgings.

“I commend the work of our law enforcement partners in coordinating the safe transfer of the defendant back to Minnesota. Sallah will now face justice for his role in defrauding Minnesotans and the American people,” said United States Attorney Daniel N. Rosen.

“As alleged in the indictment, Kaamil Sallah defrauded Medicaid for approximately $1.3 million. When he learned he was under investigation, he chose to flee,” said FBI Minneapolis Field Office Special Agent in Charge Christopher D. Dotson. “This American taxpayer money was designated to help stabilize the housing situation of those in most dire need in our community. The FBI is dedicated to rooting out the fraud that plagues our most vital community services programs, holding fraudsters responsible, and working to ensure those that attempt to flee justice are brought to account.”

This case was the result of an investigation by IRS Criminal Investigation, the FBI, the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, Homeland Security Investigations, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

Assistant United States Attorneys Rebecca E. Kline, Matthew C. Murphy, and Steven R. Forrest are prosecuting the case. Assistant United States Attorney Craig Baune is handling the seizure and forfeiture of assets.

IRS-CI is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. It is the only federal law enforcement agency with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code. IRS-CI has 16 field offices located across the U.S. and maintains an international presence through attaché posts abroad.