MINNEAPOLIS (CN) - The Justice Department announced charges against 15 people in Minnesota Thursday in connection with healthcare fraud schemes reportedly targeting over $90 million in taxpayer dollars.
In a press conference full of Trump administration officials, Colin McDonald, assistant attorney general in the national fraud enforcement division, said the charges involve several Minnesota Medicaid programs "systematically pilfered by fraudsters" - adding today's announcement marks the highest loss amount ever charged in a Medicaid case in Minnesota.
"This is not the end of our work in Minnesota ... this is the beginning of our work in Minnesota," McDonald said. "The fraud here in Minnesota is shocking."
The announcement comes on the same day pandemic-era Feeding Our Future founder Aimee Bock was sentenced to nearly 42 years in prison for leading the scheme targeting $250 million in taxpayer-funded child nutrition programs over Covid-19.
"The ripple effects of her actions are profound, immeasurable, and will have lasting consequences for both Minnesota and the nation," prosecutors said in a court filing this week when seeking a 50-year sentence. "The brazen and staggering nature of her crimes has shaken Minnesota to its core, leaving lasting damage and eroding public trust."
Minnesota U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen noted the success in obtaining Bock's sentence, but shared similar sentiments to McDonald regarding the work still to come.
"While that fraud in and of itself is breathtaking, the truth is Feeding Our Future is only a start, and we believe it's only a fraction of the fraud that is actually ongoing here in the state of Minnesota," he said in the press conference.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison - who has come under heavy fire from lawmakers and critics regarding purported social services fraud in the state - thanked federal prosecutors Thursday for their years of hard work to hold Bock accountable.
Some of the new charges announced Thursday involve claimed fraud in state programs that provide grants to childcare providers, assist homeless residents in securing and maintaining housing and offer medical services to people with autism spectrum disorder.
The latter, according to McDonald, marks the "largest autism fraud scheme ever charged by the Department of Justice," and specifically concerns an owner and an employee of autism clinics charged with submitting over $40 million in fraudulent claims to Medicaid.
Eight defendants are charged with defrauding Housing Stabilization Services of nearly $16 million, a program designed to help people with disabilities, including seniors and those with mental illnesses, find housing.
Minnesota was forced to close the program in October 2025 due to fraud.
McDonald said 11 strike force prosecutors from across the country have been sent to Minnesota to help pursue these cases, and announced a new, nationwide Medicaid strike force team that will be deployable nationwide to address rampant fraud.
"To the fraudsters, eat, drink and be merry today, because your days of frolicking and freedom are numbered," he said. "We are doing everything we can to find you, and when we do, we will prosecute you, and we will claw back every dollar you have stolen from the American people."
Federal prosecutors estimate the fraud problem in the state could reach or exceed the realms of $9 billion. While Minnesota Governor Tim Walz previously dismissed that number as mere speculation, McDonald said Thursday he wouldn't be surprised if it was a low-ball.
President Donald Trump has made a national crackdown on fraud a cornerstone of his second-term agenda, with a heavy focus on fraud investigations into Somali-run daycare centers in the Twin Cities.
Just last month, federal agents raided more than 20 Minnesota businesses, primarily targeting childcare facilities that receive federal funding, an action Walz celebrated.
"If you commit fraud in Minnesota, you're going to get caught, and that's exactly what we saw today," Walz said in a post on X that Trump administration officials quickly rebuked, claiming he had no part in the raids.
One of the raided locations included the "Quality Learning Center," which gained national attention after YouTuber Nick Shirley - who Medicaid Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz thanked at Thursday's press conference - claimed to have uncovered millions in fraud at the location.
In February, the Trump administration announced plans to temporarily halt $243 million in Medicaid funding - and another $91 million in April - to Minnesota over fraud concerns, prompting quick legal action from the state.
When asked Thursday about Minnesota's cooperation in sharing reports tied to the deferral, Oz said if they had satisfied the needs, the money would already be released.
"Medicaid is the fundamental payer of last resort for our most needy, most vulnerable citizens, and when we're unable to keep these programs alive because of fraudsters, it hurts all of us deeply," he said.
Walz, who dropped his reelection bid this year largely due to scrutiny over social services fraud, repeatedly pushes back against the Trump administration's heavy focus on the North Star State - claiming its actions are nothing more than a "campaign of retribution" meant to punish Trump's political opponents.
The outgoing governor did announce an anti-fraud package for the state in February, and claims his administration has spent years cracking down on fraudsters despite drawing the ire of the federal government.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who was initially supposed to be at the press conference, said in a press release at least one Medicaid recipient passed away as a result of "con artists" stealing taxpayer dollars while providing substandard care for children, adding the DOJ Fraud Division and the White House's fraud task force will "dismantle illegal schemes" across the country.
The Minnesota Attorney General's Office and the Minnesota Governor's Office did not respond to requests for comment.
Source: Courthouse News Service
