MINNEAPOLIMEDIA NEWS | State Investigation Finds Brooklyn Center Group Home Billed Medicaid for Impossible Service Hours

BROOKLYN CENTER, MN (September 23, 2026). A state investigation has found that a Brooklyn Center group home billed Minnesota’s Medicaid program for more daily care than its staffing levels could have provided, deepening scrutiny of a company connected to Liberian government official Sekou Dukuly.

The Minnesota Department of Health examined one of three Golden Touch Health Care homes and found that care plans for three residents required at least 45 combined service hours per day during portions of July and August. The home frequently had only one employee working during a shift.

Even after investigators accounted for a manager who divided time among three homes, the facility could have provided no more than 32 hours of service on those days, according to the findings.

Investigators also questioned whether residents required many of the services for which Medicaid was billed. Those services included meal preparation, transportation coordination, medication monitoring, personal grooming and help with social activities.

One resident told investigators she prepared her own meals, cleaned her room and managed her medication without staff assistance. Another reportedly managed her own prescriptions even though the company billed for medication setup, reminders and documentation.

The report also found billing for at least 13 hours of mental-health management per day that investigators said residents did not require. At the state’s minimum reimbursement of $26 an hour, that category alone could exceed $10,000 in a month.

Golden Touch attorney Chad Blumenfield disputed the report’s conclusions and said investigators omitted important context about the flexible nature of residents’ care. The company maintains that residents received the services they needed.

State records show that Minnesota paid businesses connected to Dukuly nearly $44 million over the past decade, including almost $12 million to Golden Touch. The Department of Human Services has temporarily suspended Medicaid payments to the company based on what it described as credible allegations of fraud, although the agency emphasized that the suspension is not a final fraud determination.

The Health Department previously suspended operations at the three homes and began relocating residents. It is now working to finalize the revocation of Golden Touch’s license.

Source: Minnesota Department of Health investigation and Department of Human Services payment data reported by MPR News and APM Reports.

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