Minnesota’s Latest Fraud Bust May Be The Most Disturbing Yet

Federal prosecutors on Thursday announced sweeping new fraud charges against 15 defendants in Minnesota accused of stealing more than $90 million from taxpayer-funded Medicaid and social service programs, as Trump administration officials vowed an aggressive crackdown on what they described as a culture of fraud plaguing the state.

The announcement came during a major press conference in Minneapolis featuring top Trump administration officials and federal law enforcement leaders, including HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald, White House Anti-Fraud Task Force Vice Chair Andrew Ferguson, and FBI Deputy Director Christopher Raia.

“Today, we are announcing criminal charges against 15 defendants in Minnesota for fraud schemes that targeted over $90 million in taxpayer dollars,” McDonald said. “The fraud here in Minnesota is shocking.” According to the Justice Department, the cases involve seven separate Minnesota-managed Medicaid programs that prosecutors say were “systematically pilfered by fraudsters” who treated public benefit programs “as their personal piggy bank.”

Federal officials said the schemes targeted programs intended to help some of the state’s most vulnerable residents, including disabled individuals, children with autism, and homeless populations.

One program highlighted by prosecutors, Minnesota’s Housing Stabilization Services initiative, was originally projected to cost roughly $2.5 million annually in 2020. McDonald said the cost ballooned to more than $104 million by 2024 due to rampant fraud before the state ultimately shut the program down entirely this year.

“It’s all gone,” McDonald said. “And because of all the fraud, Minnesota had to shut the program down in 2025, and now these services no longer exist for these vulnerable homeless populations.”

Another alleged scheme centered on autism treatment programs. Prosecutors accused defendants of paying kickbacks to parents, fraudulently diagnosing children with autism, and billing Medicaid for services never actually provided. Kennedy called the case “the largest autism fraud bust in American history.”

“This was organized theft that exploited the most vulnerable children in America,” Kennedy said. “Every fraudulent autism diagnosis steals time, care, and resources from the children for whom this program has been designed.”

Officials also described cases involving programs designed to help disabled residents live independently. In one instance, prosecutors said a defendant billed Medicaid for around-the-clock care for a disabled man who was later found dead after receiving no actual services.

“The defendant even submitted a claim of over $400 for services he never provided the day before this man died,” McDonald said.

Federal authorities said the investigation moved at an unusual speed after the Department of Justice surged prosecutors and investigators into Minnesota earlier this year. McDonald said 11 strike-force prosecutors from across the country were assigned to the effort alongside FBI agents and investigators from HHS, IRS Criminal Investigation, and Homeland Security Investigations.

Raia said the FBI significantly expanded its fraud investigations in Minnesota beginning late last year as concerns mounted over abuse of public assistance programs.

“At any given time, we’re running roughly 3,300 investigations related to health care fraud across the country,” Raia said. “Health care fraud is not a victimless crime.”

He warned that fraud involving public healthcare programs ultimately harms taxpayers and vulnerable Americans who rely on those services.

“Every single dollar stolen through these schemes is $1 that came from the pocket of hardworking American taxpayers,” he said. “These programs are meant to help the sick, the elderly, the disabled, and the unprivileged.”

“Make no mistake, today’s charges are unprecedented,” McDonald added, noting the cases include “the highest loss amount ever charged in a Medicaid case in Minnesota” and “the largest autism fraud scheme ever charged by the Department of Justice.”

The DOJ also announced the expansion of its Health Care Fraud Midwest Strike Force into Minnesota and the hiring of 15 additional prosecutors dedicated to Medicaid fraud investigations nationwide.

The indictments came just hours after Feeding Our Future founder Aimee Bock was sentenced to 41-and-a-half years in prison for her role in a massive $250 million pandemic food fraud scheme that rocked Minnesota politics and drew national attention.

U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen said the Feeding Our Future scandal was likely “only a small fraction of the fraud that is actually ongoing here in the state of Minnesota.”

“We have the unfortunate distinction of being the place that brought to national attention the fraud committed against governments across the United States,” Rosen said.

The case has also become politically charged in recent years. President Donald Trump previously blasted Minnesota leadership over the fraud scandals, accusing state officials of allowing massive abuse of taxpayer funds, while administration officials on Thursday aligned the latest indictments with the broader nationwide anti-fraud initiative spearheaded by Vice President J.D. Vance.

“Fraud is going to bleed our social programs dry,” Ferguson said. “Stopping fraud is how we save these programs.”

Federal officials also revealed that one suspect remains on the run after jumping from a fourth-story balcony during Wednesday’s law enforcement operation. The FBI released images of the suspect and asked the public for assistance in locating him.

Raia concluded the press conference with a warning. “No matter how many shell companies you have, no matter how clever or brazen your schemes are, if you steal money from taxpayers and people in need, the FBI and our partners will pursue you relentlessly.”