AUGUSTA, Maine — One of Maine’s first Somali-American lawmakers said Tuesday she had no involvement in the billing practices of a former employer facing MaineCare fraud allegations and supports investigations into the issue.
The statement from Rep. Deqa Dhalac, D-South Portland, came after legislative Republicans held a State House news conference calling on Democratic leaders to remove Dhalac from the Legislature’s budget committee. They also called on Gov. Janet Mills along with Democratic leaders and state agencies to further investigate allegations of MaineCare fraud.
The calls came a week after the state halted MaineCare payments to Portland-based Gateway Community Services amid an investigation into “credible allegations of fraud.” It followed federal prosecutors charging in fraud schemes involving Somali immigrants in Minnesota, where individuals are accused of setting up companies that defrauded welfare programs.
Gateway and Dhalac were identified in a letter sent to the U.S. Treasury by U.S. Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, the top Republican on the House oversight committee. Comer’s letter directly tied for the first time Gateway to a committee’s investigation that has largely been focused on Minnesota.
On Tuesday, House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, told reporters that he will be sending a letter later calling for Dhalac’s removal from the Legislature’s budget committee. Dhalac responded in a statement by saying she worked for Gateway for less than a year and had no involvement in the company’s billing practices.
“Any accusations that I participated in illegal activities aren’t just unequivocally false – they are also reckless and harmful,” she said. “I take seriously the state’s responsibility to serve as a good steward of taxpayer dollars, and I support the investigation to hold accountable any individuals who misuse public funds.”
In a joint statement from Maine Senate President Mattie Daughtry, D-Brunswick, and House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, the pair said allegations of waste, fraud or abuse of MaineCare dollars are being taken seriously but that investigations must be “grounded in evidence, clear standards, and due process, not politics or assumptions.”
Neither Mills nor her office has responded to multiple inquiries about the allegations against Gateway. Assistant Maine Senate Minority Leader Matt Harrington, R-Sanford, echoed concerns he has raised since May about the provider and questioned the validity of any state investigation into the alleged fraud.
“I do not believe we will see a fully transparent investigation carried out by anyone here in the state government,” he said. “The political entanglements are too deep, and the incentives to look the other way are too strong.”
In May, the Maine Wire, the media arm of the conservative Maine Policy Institute, first reported on a former employee’s fraud allegations against Gateway, which has denied criminal wrongdoing. Last week, the Bangor Daily News published a story detailing a federal investigator’s five-year-old report that identified a concerning pattern within MaineCare spending on interpreting services.
That report found that interpreter claims made to MaineCare surged by 283% between 2011 and 2017, with costs rising from roughly $800,000 to over $4.1 million annually. The increase occurred as the number of refugees and immigrants arriving in Maine declined. The investigator took a closer look at billing trends following the high-profile prosecution of two interpreters, two social workers and a counselor in 2019.
Official action on the topic could come as soon as next week, when lawmakers return to Augusta for the 2026 session. Sen. Jeff Timberlake, R-Turner, who sits on the Government Oversight Committee, told the BDN last week he expects he’ll file a letter asking the panel to look into the fraud within MaineCare.