A state investigation into a Brooklyn Center group home has revealed shocking evidence of systemic overbilling and neglect, involving a facility linked to a high ranking government official in Liberia. The probe focused on Golden Touch Health Care, where Sekou Dukuly served as the licensed assisted living director despite residing abroad while working as the managing director of Liberia’s National Port Authority. Investigators discovered that the facility billed Medicaid for amounts of labor that were physically impossible to perform given the actual staffing levels on site.
The discrepancies were starkly evident during several periods in July and August, when the home claimed to provide roughly 45 hours of daily service for its small population of residents. However, records showed that frequently only one staff member was present per shift, meaning the maximum achievable service time was closer to 32 hours. Beyond the mathematical impossibility of these claims, officials found that much of the billing was for tasks residents did not actually require or receive. This included charges for meal preparation, medication monitoring, and social assistance for individuals who testified they were perfectly capable of handling those activities independently.
Personal accounts from residents painted a grim picture of isolation and abandonment within the home. One woman suffering from chronic pain informed investigators that she manages her own cleaning, cooking, and medicine without any help from staff, noting that she rarely sees a nurse and feels ignored by caregivers. Another resident confirmed they handled their own prescriptions despite the facility charging the government for specific drug related reminders and documentation which the home later admitted it could not produce. Additionally, the state found that the facility billed for upwards of 13 hours a day in unnecessary mental health management services, which can cost taxpayers over ten thousand dollars monthly per location.
While attorneys representing Golden Touch Health Care claim the state report lacks critical context and maintain that care remains flexible and sufficient, advocates say the findings highlight a dangerous failure in oversight. Over the last decade, businesses tied to Dukuly have received approximately thirty six million dollars in state funds across dozens of facilities in the Twin Cities metro area. As a result of these discoveries, the Health Department took swift action in August by issuing an immediate temporary suspension against three group homes operated by Dukuly to protect vulnerable citizens from further exploitation.