A former Anoka County assistant attorney is among four charged in Hennepin County in connection to a sprawling sex trafficking ring that reportedly operated for years and is linked to an alleged fraudulent Medicaid billing scheme totaling more than $1 million, in which a fifth person is charged in Ramsey County.
Charged in the sex trafficking scheme is Andrea Leigh Sampson, 35, of Fridley, who was working as an attorney in the Anoka County Attorney’s Office over the course of the operation, according to a press briefing held Monday by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.
Also charged in the sex trafficking scheme are Frank Devon Reeves, 57, of Champlin, Viktoriya Sergeyevna Komonash, 30, of Eagan, and Katherine Michelle Thomes, 36, of Minneapolis. Each of the four defendants is charged with 13 counts of promoting prostitution of an individual and 13 counts of receiving profits from prostitution for each of the 13 victims identified so far by law enforcement and prosecutors.
Charging documents describe how law enforcement, including the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), began investigating the organization in 2021, operating within Minneapolis, Bloomington, Eden Prairie, and St. Louis Park. Charges indicate the activity took place with various victims between 2019 and as recently as February of this year.
The criminal complaints state that Reeves and Komonash were active in recruiting and promoting commercial sex advertisements for numerous women and were responsible for setting rates and procuring apartments for sex transactions for the women. Thomes owns an “erotica” website on which the various women have been “posted” for commercial sex transactions. Thomes, Reeves, and Komonash are alleged to have collected money from the women, who are described as victims in the criminal complaints, when their ads were posted or “bumped” on the website.
Charges allege Sampson secured and provided locations for the commercial sex transactions to occur as well as assisted in creating and maintaining LLCs, appearing to be various shell companies to assist the operation in hiding and funneling the profits from the sex trafficking organization.
Properties owned by Sampson in south Minneapolis and Northeast Minneapolis were indicated as sites where photographs of victims were taken for their commercial sex ad postings and where commercial sex transactions occurred. Another address on Main Street Northeast was also repeatedly mentioned as a location for commercial sex transactions, as well as an address on 13th Avenue Northeast.
The criminal complaints describe interviews with the 13 victims who told investigators they had to pay a minimum of $100 to one or more of the defendants for each commercial sex date set up through Thomes’ website, while others indicated that 50-60% of what they made went back to the trafficking organization. Several of the victims said they had four to five commercial sex dates per day.
Defendant Komonash was described as being a “house mom” who taught the women how to conduct commercial sex transactions and took their pictures in lingerie and uploaded them onto the erotica website.
Some of the victims said that Reeves would supply alcohol and cocaine to the women and that he had sexually assaulted several of them. The criminal complaints also state that several of the victims said an armed enforcer would show up at times to keep the victims in line if “management” was displeased.
The criminal complaints state that based on phone records, journal entries and other information, the female defendants appear to have believed they were in romantic or sexual relationships with Reeves while conducting business within and for the trafficking organization.
One victim stated that in addition to engaging in commercial sex transactions, she was working for Reeves and Komonash at an autism center they ran. Another victim described receiving fake pay stubs from the organization.
Through the investigation into the commercial sex operation, law enforcement learned that defendants Reeves, Komonash, and Sampson have also been operating assisted living and/or autism sites and are collecting money from those sites in addition to the commercial sex operation itself.
During the press briefing held on Monday afternoon, authorities from the BCA indicated an ongoing, separate investigation into Medicaid fraud that may be linked to the facilities operated by the defendants in the sex trafficking operation.
Medicaid fraud
Charged in Ramsey County by the state attorney general in connection to the alleged Medicaid fraud is Salman Ahmed Elmi, 30, of St. Paul. Elmi, who was previously honored by the Minnesota Department of Human Services as an “Outstanding Refugee,” is facing eight total felony counts that involve aiding and abetting theft by swindle and aiding and abetting theft by false representation.
The complaint against Elmi describes four LLCs, including Reva Health LLC in Golden Valley, which is co-owned by Reeves and lists Komonash as a registered agent; Reva Health Autism Center LLC in Brooklyn Center, owned by Reeves and Sampson at its inception; Helpful Housing LLC in Roseville, owned by Reeves and Sampson; and Homefelt Assisted Living LLC, which includes several residences listed in the sex trafficking complaints where commercial sex was being conducted in Minneapolis.
Law enforcement, including the BCA, had been investigating Reva Health since at least 2019 for possible federal sex trafficking and drug offenses.
Although federal law enforcement did not charge Reva’s owners under a prior investigation, over one million pages of documentation were collected, including thousands of pages of bank records, statements, real estate records, and seizures of digital evidence that also informed the state’s investigation and ultimate charges.
The 16-page complaint against Elmi identifies the defendants in the sex trafficking case as conspirators in the Medicaid scheme that allegedly coerced the victims to perform commercial sex out of some of the facilities. The services were advertised as “massages” on the erotica website. Some of the victims also received pay stubs from RDF Enterprises, a bank account owned by Reeves, that was used to apparently launder the sex trafficking money and as an income source for the sex trafficking victims to rent apartments.
The charges against Elmi allege he improperly billed for services that weren’t rendered and falsified documents to get reimbursement from Medicaid. The complaint also alleges kickbacks were paid to individuals, including some of the sex trafficking victims, for use of their personal information for the Medicaid claims.
All five defendants were arrested late last week. Elmi appears to have supplied bail and was released from Ramsey County Jail on Monday. His next hearing is scheduled for Nov. 4.
The four defendants in the sex trafficking case remained in custody in Hennepin County Jail early Tuesday morning with bail amounts set at $1 million each.
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Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
Crime Watch MN
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
