An immigrant in Minnesota whom the state once honored with an "outstanding refugee" award has been charged with Medicaid fraud. 

Salman Ahmed Elmi is facing three counts of aiding and abetting by swindle and five counts of aiding and abetting by false representation stemming from an alleged scam to bill Medicaid for over $1 million in fraudulent services, according to Fox News.

Elmi was reportedly charged last week and made his first court appearance Monday.

The state Department of Human Services granted Elmi the award in 2021, along with an Entrepreneurship Award. 

The charges also allege that two members involved in the fraud scheme were tied to a sex-trafficking ring. 

"I started a business to help inspire other people," Elmi said in an archived post on the Minnesota DHS website. "No one owns businesses in my family; my entire family came here with the idea that the American dream was just getting a job and making it work, so shifting that mindset was difficult but important."

A Minnesota DHS spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News that Elmi's actions don't reflect the goal of the Outstanding Refugee Awards. 

"They also do not represent Minnesota’s refugee community," the spokesperson said. "We are surrounded by neighbors, coworkers, employees and friends with powerful stories of resilience in the face of difficult circumstances, who are showing leadership in small as well as large ways to improve their communities." 

This is not the first such instance recently of a member or members of the state's immigrant or refugee community, particularly Minnesota's Somalia community, being charged with defrauding social services programs. 

Prosecutors say the total amount fraudulently taken since roughly 2019 throughout various state departments and programs in the state could reach as much as S$9 billion, also according to Fox News.