Charges against members of a Twin Cities sex trafficking ring have shed light on what prosecutors call an elaborate conspiracy between an alleged pimp, an Anoka County prosecutor and several others that also defrauded the state of more than $1 million in Medicaid funding.

On top of citing more than a dozen alleged victims of sex trafficking, the allegations now include that former Anoka County prosecutor Andrea Sampson purchased two “commercial sex houses” and one was turned into an assisted living home that billed Medicaid for more than $500,000.

Sampson, 35, was also allegedly at one time a sex worker for the man at the center of the sex trafficking ring, Frank Reeves, and became romantically involved with him. In January, Sampson texted Reeves asking that since she was, “not in trouble,” could they get married soon. Reeves responded, “We can’t get married with you in jail … I’m just playing … Baby I have things to do.”

Reeves, 57, made his first appearance at the Hennepin County Public Safety Facility in downtown Minneapolis on Monday along with Sampson and another alleged co-conspirator, Viktoriya Komonash, 30.

Reeves’ bail was set at $500,000. Sampson and Komonash both had their bail set at $300,000.

Earlier in the day, Salman Elmi, 30, was held in lieu of $100,000 bail after a first appearance in Ramsey County District Court on charges filed by the Minnesota Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Unit that his company, Reva Health, had defrauded the state’s Medicaid program of more than $1 million.

The charges allege that the co-owner of Reva Health is Reeves, the alleged pimp. They also claim that Komonash was observed by officers working out of the Reva Autism Center in Brooklyn Center and that Sampson had “ownership interest” in Reva Autism and commercial sex houses in Minneapolis that were promoted as assisted-living facilities.

In 2023, one of those houses was converted into Homefelt Assisted Living. The Minnesota Secretary of State website shows Sampson as the owner of the business with an address listed to her in Las Vegas.

When investigators raided the Reva Autism Center, there were over a dozen children there, according to search warrants. Court records also indicate that when a victim told Komonash she no longer wanted to be a sex worker, Komonash offered her a job as a “provider for kids” at the autism center.

“Medicaid fraud steals money meant to provide healthcare to our low-income friends and neighbors,” Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement. “It is illegal and it makes my blood boil.”

Regulators from the Minnesota Department of Health inspected two Homefelt assisted-living facilities this year.

A June inspection of a facility on University Avenue Northeast, which also was used as a sex house according to the criminal complaint, found four residents living there at the time. The inspector found substandard food preparation, infection control and medication administration practices that were unsafe but not severe.

A March inspection found a variety of unsafe care practices at a facility on Adams Street Northeast, which was licensed as an assisted-living facility in 2024 and was housing three residents at the time. Court records do not indicate whether it was also used as part of the sex-trafficking organization.

The property on Harriet Avenue was not licensed as an assisted living facility, even though court records suggested it was promoted that way while being used as a sex house.

The charges allege that Reeves sent text messages to Elmi that he’s going to make them rich “real quick” and that he will “take over the whole state.” Reeves and Elmi also allegedly both had a house in San Jose, Costa Rica and discussed a raid of a massage parlor that provided sexual services there. Reeves texted Elmi, “They got raided at gunpoint and everyone brought in for questioning.”

Since at least 2019 the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) had been interviewing dozens of victims who were recruited to provide massages through a sexually explicit website that was allegedly operated by Katherine Thomes, 36, an associate of Reeves who was also arrested and charged in the scheme and is set to appear in court on Tuesday.

The website provided clients with massage services and each victim was allegedly trained on how to “finish” their massages with “happy endings,” a known sexual euphemism. Komonash allegedly trained the victims what sex acts they were supposed to perform. In other instances, victims watched other victims perform the sex act to learn how to do it.

Several of those victims allegedly identified Reeves as the leader of the sex trafficking ring and reported to law enforcement that “a male wielding a gun showed up at times to help keep the victims in line after ‘management’ was displeased.”

At a press conference Monday morning, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty and BCA Superintendent Drew Evans said the multiyear investigation into the sex trafficking ring was extremely complex, requiring investigators to build trust with victims who were terrified of retaliation by the people who allegedly forced them into sex work.

“When we’re talking about commercial sex trafficking, it really minimizes what happened and the harm that was done here,” Moriarty said. “No one wants to be involved in a sex trafficking ring. It is something that happens to you. The 13 victims suffered great harm .... I want to recognize the courage of the victims to work with the BCA and our office.”

Both Moriarty and Evans said the scope of the allegations could spread after more than 100 felony charges have already been filed against Reeves, Komonash, Thomes and Sampson. The Attorney General’s Office charged Elmi with eight felony theft offenses.

In a statement, the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) said it had stopped payments to “several people and businesses associated with this scheme, including Reva, in February 2026.

All of the defendants have little or no criminal history in Minnesota.

Elmi’s website shows that he runs three companies including Tavolo, a restaurant marketing platform; The Velvet Lounge, a members-only club in Minneapolis; and Top Figure, a digital media company. He was once given the “Outstanding Refugee Award for Entrepreneurship” by the DHS.

The DHS website for that award has been taken down, but an archive of it shows that Elmi wrote a profile which said: “The biggest thing I hear all the time is that refugees are mooching off of the economy or being a non-productive member of society when, in reality, immigrants contribute to a big part of the U.S. economy, especially here in Minnesota.”

As federal, state and local law enforcement spent years digging into possible sex trafficking and drug violations by Reva Health, they collected thousands of pages of bank records and other evidence. That helped lead to charges against Elmi.

The Attorney General’s Office alleged that REVA Health billed for more than $1 million in Medicaid services that were not provided or were not eligible for reimbursement.

The charges against Elmi focus on the company’s reported abuse of Minnesota’s Adult Rehabilitation Mental Health Services (ARMHS), where workers are supposed to help people with mental illness stabilize and build skills to live independently in the community.

The state’s ARMHS program has seen rapid growth in recent years, expanding from 234 providers billing $63 million in 2028 to 531 providers billing almost $190 million last year, according to DHS data.

REVA Health billed Medicaid nearly $2.9 million since 2024 for mental health services reportedly provided to clients, according to state data provided to the Minnesota Star Tribune in March.

ARMHS is one of 14 programs state officials have designated as high-risk for fraud.

The complaint describes how people involved with REVA Health were tied to businesses billing Medicaid through other programs deemed vulnerable to fraudsters, including the now-shuttered Housing Stabilization Services program and a benefit that supports young people with autism.

Elmi was attempting to expand into a new area of social services this year. In May, the DHS sent Elmi a letter denying his application for a license to do addiction treatment in Golden Valley. The denial says one of the people named in his license application is allegedly operating a sex trafficking organization, according to a search warrant, and another person on the application is a known associate.

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