In a move that may have implications for the national debate around immigration, state officials have temporarily suspended payments to a Portland nonprofit that provides health care services to immigrants.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services said the payments to the nonprofit, Gateway Community Services, were suspended after a third — and previously undisclosed —audit found more than $1 million in overpayments from March 2021 to December 2022.

The state issued its notice of violation on Tuesday, and the matter has been referred to the Office of the Attorney General for investigation, said DHHS spokesperson Lindsay Hammes. These are the steps the state takes when it suspects fraud.

“Payment suspensions must be imposed when there is a credible allegation of fraud, unless ‘good cause exception’ criteria are met to delay such action,” Hammes said. “The Department will continue to hold providers to the highest standards and ensure accountability in the use of public funds.”

In a statement, Gateway’s attorney, Pawel Binczyk, said the organization would “take time to review and respond to these allegations.”

“Gateway stands by its previous statements on this issue and will continue to cooperate with the state as it has in the past,” Binczyk wrote.

Fraud allegations from a former employee, Chris Bernardini, were first reported by The Maine Wire, a conservative online media outlet in Maine, six months ago. Allegations resurfaced about two weeks ago in national news outlets, including Fox News and NewsNation, which also referenced a series of alleged fraud schemes involving Somali immigrants in Minnesota.

Those cases have been highlighted by President Donald Trump as part of his crackdown on immigration. Gateway was founded by Abdullahi Ali, a Somali American who last year ran for office in Jubaland, a state in his home country.

Hammes said the third “comprehensive, multiyear” audit into Gateway’s billing was initiated in January 2023 in response to “internal data analytics” and was not made public sooner because the probe was ongoing. It found “areas of noncompliance and associated overpayment” of nearly $1.1 million from March 2021 to December 2022.

DHHS previously identified $662,608 in overpayments made to Gateway between 2015 and 2018. Those overpayments were discovered after the state conducted multiyear audits of the organization in 2018 and 2024, both in response to complaints, the state previously said.

The suspension of payments comes only a day after the chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform requested financial information about the nonprofit.

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., requested “certain Suspicious Activity Reports” related to suspected fraud in Minnesota from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Gateway Community Services is named in a list of “organizations of interest and persons of interest” in the investigation.

Comer said the groups on that list “have been implicated in fraud schemes in the state of Minnesota” from Jan. 1, 2018, to present, though it’s not clear how Gateway has been implicated.

The organizations in Minnesota also have connections to the Somali community.

In a statement earlier this month, Gateway Community Services said it is working to address recent state audit findings related to overbilling. Nothing in the audits indicated intentional wrongdoing or that the company had billed for services it did not provide, it said.

The lengthy statement, released Dec. 12 by Gateway’s attorney, Pawel Binczyk, defended the organization’s billing practices.

“Gateway Community Services maintains strict billing, documentation and compliance
protocols, and has cooperated with state oversight agencies spanning both the (Republican Paul) LePage and (Democrat Janet) Mills administrations,” the statement said.

“These reckless narratives have real impacts on the thousands of Mainers, a majority of whom are not immigrants, that rely on Gateway for services, as well as the many employees, again many of whom are not immigrants, that work to assist those Mainers,” it continues.

Staff Writer Drew Johnson contributed to this story.

Editor’s note: This story was updated on Dec. 24 to correct information about U.S. Rep. James Comer. He is from Kentucky.