PITSTOP‑66 defendant admits role in 'phantom' Medicaid rides to Twin Cities

Nasro Takhal has pleaded guilty to two felony counts of aiding and abetting theft of Medicaid funds in a multi‑million‑dollar scheme that used bogus medical rides and interpretation claims between Faribault and Twin Cities providers from 2019 to 2021. Investigators with Minnesota’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit say Takhal was an 'integral' player in the PITSTOP‑66 enterprise, which recruited Somali American residents in Faribault to travel to metro clinics for care they didn’t need or weren’t eligible for, then billed UCare for non‑emergency transportation and interpreting services that were never legitimately provided. Court records say the conspirators also submitted thousands of claims under "invalid and fabricated" names, exploiting the fact Faribault sits just under 60 miles from many Twin Cities providers in order to maximize per‑trip reimbursement. Takhal, initially charged with 17 felonies, will be sentenced in October and is expected to owe more than $300,000 in restitution, one small slice of a fraud wave that has already pushed Minnesota to freeze payments in 14 high‑risk Medicaid services and drawn CMS threats to claw back billions. For metro residents, it’s another example of how long‑running scams have bled money out of the system that’s supposed to fund real care and rides for people who actually need to get to Twin Cities hospitals and clinics.