The FBI indicted 15 people Thursday for an alleged health care scheme that illustrates a “culture of fraud” in Minnesota.
“It is a crisis in Minnesota,” claimed Collin McDonald, assistant attorney general for fraud enforcement, in a DOJ press conference. “A culture of fraud has taken root.”
FBI Director Kash Patel posted to X that the FBI and Justice Department’s investigation revealed the defendants allegedly fraudulently obtained over $90 million from taxpayers, thereby preventing those funds from going toward legitimate Medicaid recipients.
“These charges involve the two LARGEST Medicaid fraud cases ever charged in this district and first-of-their kind charges involving 7 additional Medicaid programs,” according to Patel.
Among these programs, Patel cited examples such as the “Housing Stabilization Services, Child Care, Medicaid programs, Individualized Home Supports (IHS) and more.”
One individual allegedly fraudulently obtained over $40 million from Early Intensive Development and Behavioral Intervention, a Minnesota Department of Human Services program intended to offer “medically necessary services and supports to people under the age of 21 with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or related conditions.”
In this scheme, the defendants allegedly used autism centers to bill for services not actually provided. According to Patel, “This not only defrauded taxpayers, but robbed valuable resources from families truly in need.”
McDonald also addressed the indictment.
He said that some of these programs had to “completely shut down” because the money dedicated to them was fraudulently drained out, costing taxpayers 50 times more than the state allotted when creating these programs.
These 15 indictments come after a series of fraud scandals in Minnesota often involving the Somali community. According to Former Attorney General Pam Bondi, these 15 indictments added to the 98 already charged as of December 2025. Among these 98, 60 have been found guilty thus far.
McDonald pledged to continue the work of the DOJ until every fraudster in Minnesota is charged. He said, “This is not the end of the beginning of our work in Minnesota. This is the beginning of our work in Minnesota.”
McDonald then addressed the fraudsters directly. He said, “We will not rest until every fraudster knows that the cost of stealing from the American people is far higher than any scheme is worth.”
