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TIL there’s something called fraud tourism. Congrats, Minnesota.


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Posted
On 12/19/2025 at 2:51 PM, Vato Macho said:

The magnitude cannot be overstated," Thompson said. 

 Very clearly it can be, and has been

 

also fuck off gruhorn

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Posted

Very telling I didn't see who posted it but just read the headline and knew it was made up trumpy bullshit. 

New American national motto should be

"Show your evidence or go fuck yourself"

 

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Posted

It seems like the admin is trying to use a real and known fraud issue to score political points. I will not be surprised if there is a lot more uncovered although as can been seen here, the way they peruse these announcements raises reasonable doubt as to scope and purpose. 
 

The Biden DOJ identified what it called “the largest pandemic fraud scheme uncovered to date” in Minn. $250 million for fake meals for kids. Also in 2024, the FBI came down on a interlinked autism center scam. There is massive fraud in this area. Both of these links and the initial investigations began before DJTII. 
 

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The number of autism centers and the dollar amount of reimbursement claims in Minnesota have exploded since the pandemic. A total of $32.4 million in Medicaid funds were paid out to autism centers in 2020. That number ballooned to $228 million so far this year. (The dollar figures used here, provided by DHS through data practice requests from months ago, differ from the numbers in the federal search warrant.)

 

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Feeding Our Future was a Minnesota nonprofit founded in 2016. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it claimed to distribute many thousands of meals to schoolchildren, but instead stole hundreds of millions of dollars while providing few or no meals at most of its locations. Merrick Garland, attorney general during the Biden administration, called it the country’s largest pandemic relief fraud scheme


 

https://www.valleynewslive.com/2024/12/14/2-minnesota-autism-centers-raided-by-fbi-part-wider-fraud-investigation/?outputType=amp

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feeding_Our_Future



I believe at this point something like 68 of 70 defendants in these schemes were Somali. Amazing to deny that stuff like this can’t take off and become a major issue in a particular ethnic enclave. Waiting to hear that La Cosa Nostra never existed and was just anti-Italian prejudice all along. 
 

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 A Somali American investigator for the Attorney General of Minnesota's office, Kayseh Magan, suggested that these accusations of racism made against state agencies led to hesitancy in taking action against Feeding Our Future. Magan argued that the Somali American community's close social cohesion led to a disconnect between fraudulent activity and public attention; he also suggested that some fraudsters have used accusations of racism against investigators to avoid accountability


 

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Posted
7 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

It seems like the admin is trying to use a real and known fraud issue to score political points. I will not be surprised if there is a lot more uncovered although as can been seen here, the way they peruse these announcements raises reasonable doubt as to scope and purpose. 
 

The Biden DOJ identified what it called “the largest pandemic fraud scheme uncovered to date” in Minn. $250 million for fake meals for kids. Also in 2024, the FBI came down on a interlinked autism center scam. There is massive fraud in this area. Both of these links and the initial investigations began before DJTII. 
 

 


 

https://www.valleynewslive.com/2024/12/14/2-minnesota-autism-centers-raided-by-fbi-part-wider-fraud-investigation/?outputType=amp

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feeding_Our_Future



I believe at this point something like 68 of 70 defendants in these schemes were Somali. Amazing to deny that stuff like this can’t take off and become a major issue in a particular ethnic enclave. Waiting to hear that La Cosa Nostra never existed and was just anti-Italian prejudice all along. 
 


 

I did take calculus but it was a while ago so help me here. What percentage of 9 billion is 250 million? 

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Posted

For some reason, Africans seem to be perpetrators of these medical frauds, Nigerians especially.

One reason, it seems a fair number of them have medical or patient-care credentials.

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Posted
15 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

It seems like the admin is trying to use a real and known fraud issue to score political points. I will not be surprised if there is a lot more uncovered although as can been seen here, the way they peruse these announcements raises reasonable doubt as to scope and purpose. 
 

The Biden DOJ identified what it called “the largest pandemic fraud scheme uncovered to date” in Minn. $250 million for fake meals for kids. Also in 2024, the FBI came down on a interlinked autism center scam. There is massive fraud in this area. Both of these links and the initial investigations began before DJTII. 
 

 


 

https://www.valleynewslive.com/2024/12/14/2-minnesota-autism-centers-raided-by-fbi-part-wider-fraud-investigation/?outputType=amp

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feeding_Our_Future



I believe at this point something like 68 of 70 defendants in these schemes were Somali. Amazing to deny that stuff like this can’t take off and become a major issue in a particular ethnic enclave. Waiting to hear that La Cosa Nostra never existed and was just anti-Italian prejudice all along. 
 


 

Who is denying that things like that can happen?

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Posted
14 minutes ago, Sawbonz said:

I did take calculus but it was a while ago so help me here. What percentage of 9 billion is 250 million? 

We’ve gone from “maybe a couple million” upthread to over $250 already. A few hundred million here, a few hundred million there— pretty soon maybe it isn’t small-time fraud? 

Posted (edited)

No one's denying that fraud occurs, even on a massive scale.

But they're alleging $9B in fraud, without evidence (as media likes to say), and slandering Somalis in the process.

There may be a pony in there somewhere, but this is a load of shit.

Also, look at how legitimate DOJ press releases that allege massive fraud work in the past:  they cite indictments and actual loss numbers, even if those may be subject to proof and "optimistic" or overstated.

Rarely do you see a $2.1M indictment, not against Somalian defendants, that leads to an unsupported speculation of $9B in losses attributable to Somalis.

Edited by TwiceHorn
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Posted
5 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

We’ve gone from “maybe a couple million” upthread to over $250 already. A few hundred million here, a few hundred million there— pretty soon maybe it isn’t small-time fraud? 

Again, what is the percentage of what has been found vs what a literal federal prosecutor is implying?

 

If you want to see what large scale fraud looks like google “operation gold rush” 

I'm sure pardons will be coming soon for the main players there. 

Posted
19 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

For some reason, Africans seem to be perpetrators of these medical frauds, Nigerians especially.

One reason, it seems a fair number of them have medical or patient-care credentials.

No, there is not an overwhelming number of Somali doctors. The fraud is in that community because basically the entire community is on Medicaid. And this FactCheck flagged another hundred million or so. 
 

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Then, in September, federal prosecutors brought wire fraud charges against eight individuals for a scheme to defraud Minnesota’s federally funded Housing Stabilization Services Program, which began in 2020 to help seniors and other people with disabilities find and maintain housing. State officials ended the program in October because of fraud concerns.

Prosecutors said the perpetrators enrolled in the program, which was financed through Medicaid, as providers of various housing services. “Rather than provide such help, the defendants obtained and misappropriated millions of dollars in program funds that were intended as reimbursements for services provided to those people,” prosecutors said in a press release about the charges.

The program’s cost, initially expected to be about $2.6 million annually, ballooned from $21 million in 2021 to $104 million in 2024 — much of it attributed to fraud, according to a federal investigation. Prosecutors said the program’s “low barriers to entry and minimal records requirements for reimbursement” made it “susceptible to fraud.”

 

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Update, Dec. 17: We updated this article to include additional information that Minnesota’s state demographer provided to us showing 84% of individuals reporting Somali ancestry in Minnesota — not just Somali immigrants — benefited from specific public assistance programs, mostly Medicaid.

https://www.factcheck.org/2025/12/probing-trumps-verbal-attack-on-somalis/
 

 

Posted
23 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

For some reason, Africans seem to be perpetrators of these medical frauds, Nigerians especially.

One reason, it seems a fair number of them have medical or patient-care credentials.

And are princes

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Posted (edited)
23 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

We’ve gone from “maybe a couple million” upthread to over $250 already. A few hundred million here, a few hundred million there— pretty soon maybe it isn’t small-time fraud? 

Well, then I guess we must believe that all Ukrainians are nazis because of few them might be, right? This is a disappointing take for you. I generally like you as a poster, but come on, they have evidence of small fraud in this particular instance and use it speculate that half the states Medicaid disbursements must be fraudulent. That's ridiculous and irresponsible. That's the only thing we have pushed back on. 

Edited by Dahobbs
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Posted

I don't blame Incred for trolling the thread. It's hard to effectively troll these days when you're part of the "pro child rape" constituency. 

Breath of fresh air for him!

 

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Posted
1 hour ago, 956 Worldwide said:

It seems like the admin is trying to use a real and known fraud issue to score political points. I will not be surprised if there is a lot more uncovered although as can been seen here, the way they peruse these announcements raises reasonable doubt as to scope and purpose. 
 

The Biden DOJ identified what it called “the largest pandemic fraud scheme uncovered to date” in Minn. $250 million for fake meals for kids. Also in 2024, the FBI came down on a interlinked autism center scam. There is massive fraud in this area. Both of these links and the initial investigations began before DJTII. 
 

 


 

https://www.valleynewslive.com/2024/12/14/2-minnesota-autism-centers-raided-by-fbi-part-wider-fraud-investigation/?outputType=amp

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feeding_Our_Future



I believe at this point something like 68 of 70 defendants in these schemes were Somali. Amazing to deny that stuff like this can’t take off and become a major issue in a particular ethnic enclave. Waiting to hear that La Cosa Nostra never existed and was just anti-Italian prejudice all along. 
 


 

Good post, weird thread. There seems to be a reactive push to describe the fraud as immaterial. The actual situation is that it is one of the largest social services fraud scandals in the state’s history, has had significant political fallout over the past few years and is being seized by MAGA as a key issue in the gubernatorial race - which is why the bogus $9 billion figure just dropped. Not sure why that’s controversial. 

Posted
4 minutes ago, We’reTexas said:

Good post, weird thread. There seems to be a reactive push to describe the fraud as immaterial. The actual situation is that it is one of the largest social services fraud scandals in the state’s history, has had significant political fallout over the past few years and is being seized by MAGA as a key issue in the gubernatorial race - which is why the bogus $9 billion figure just dropped. Not sure why that’s controversial. 

You're misreading the thread. 

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Posted
47 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

Well, then I guess we must believe that all Ukrainians are nazis because of few them might be, right? This is a disappointing take for you. I generally like you as a poster, but come on, they have evidence of small fraud in this particular instance and use it speculate that half the states Medicaid disbursements must be fraudulent. That's ridiculous and irresponsible. That's the only thing we have pushed back on. 

Working with Ukraine will make you extremely sanguine about this stuff. First, if you lift up one corner of the rock and find the largest pandemic relief scam, you can be certain that lifting the rest will be a nightmare. That is not “small fraud,” it’s massive fraud and an indicator of deeper issues. 
 

If anyone wanted to enter a business deal with a Ukrainian group, I’d have to warn them that Ukraine is a high-fraud country and that a century of Soviet or Russian direct/indirect rule had created a culture of seriously different ethics and business norms. That corruption became so pervasive that most people who even tried to be honest would look the other way because of its centrality to how things work. I’d warn you to do extra fact-checking, extra diligence, and still be prepared to lose money along the way. 

If you were prepping a similar deal with Danes, I’d tell you to you could likely believe every word you heard and that you should prep to be more transparent and honest yourself. It’s a radically different culture and norm. That the concept of “a favor” doesn’t exist.
 

I cannot afford to be stupid and naive when explaining differences in norms and risks when making judgments about how to work with different foreign groups. 
 

Somali culture is clannish and insular and shaped on ethical norms even more foreign than Ukrainian. The community is virtually all on state assistance. It is not at all surprising that there is high fraud there. A bit of extra scrutiny on these programs and payouts based on where they would go, up front, could save a lot of heartburn later. 
 

Stupidity and naïveté should not be confused with virtues.

Posted (edited)
11 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Working with Ukraine will make you extremely sanguine about this stuff. First, if you lift up one corner of the rock and find the largest pandemic relief scam, you can be certain that lifting the rest will be a nightmare. That is not “small fraud,” it’s massive fraud and an indicator of deeper issues. 
 

If anyone wanted to enter a business deal with a Ukrainian group, I’d have to warn them that Ukraine is a high-fraud country and that a century of Soviet or Russian direct/indirect rule had created a culture of seriously different ethics and business norms. That corruption became so pervasive that most people who even tried to be honest would look the other way because of its centrality to how things work. I’d warn you to do extra fact-checking, extra diligence, and still be prepared to lose money along the way. 

If you were prepping a similar deal with Danes, I’d tell you to you could likely believe every word you heard and that you should prep to be more transparent and honest yourself. It’s a radically different culture and norm. That the concept of “a favor” doesn’t exist.
 

I cannot afford to be stupid and naive when explaining differences in norms and risks when making judgments about how to work with different foreign groups. 
 

Somali culture is clannish and insular and shaped on ethical norms even more foreign than Ukrainian. The community is virtually all on state assistance. It is not at all surprising that there is high fraud there. A bit of extra scrutiny on these programs and payouts based on where they would go, up front, could save a lot of heartburn later. 
 

Stupidity and naïveté should not be confused with virtues.

Again, what the fuck are you talking about? I'm talking about this specific release involving a couple million in alleged fraud and extrapolating into billions based upon literally nothing. Whether or not other significant fraud exists, I don't know, but would not be surprised. I haven't said anything about Somalis or made a pronouncement that certain social groups may or may not be more connected to this sort of fraud. Half the states Medicaid isn't fraudulent. That's not how this works. I have enough experience pursuing these to know how they work, how prevalent they can be, and how bad data analysis leads to absurd conclusions. 

Edited by Dahobbs
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Posted (edited)

If my post about Springfield has added to this idea that people are downplaying the fraud or claiming it to be false altogether, I want to clarify that it was only meant to say don’t trust this group of Republicans in office to be truthful.  Specifically in relation to the scope of the fraud, and super specifically when comes to being able to target a demographic that they hate. 

Edited by Pato del Muerto
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Posted
3 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

Again, what the fuck are you talking about? I'm talking about this specific release involving a couple million in alleged fraud and extrapolating into billions based upon literally nothing. Whether or not other significant fraud exists, I don't know, but would not be surprised. I haven't said anything about Somalis or made a pronouncement that certain social groups may or may not be more connected to this sort of fraud. Half the states Medicaid isn't fraudulent. That's not how this works. I have enough experience pursuing these to know how they work, how prevalent they can be, and how bad data analysis leads to absurd conclusions. 

Well, for one you’re reading the article wrong. It alleges that 9 billion is part of 18 billion being examined since 2018.  Minnesota spends about 19b per year. So the real percentage under question is less than 10 percent of total payouts.

Second, the 18 billion over six years is in programs already deemed high-fraud risk, listed below. The state has seen over double the amount of payouts under some of these balloon since the pandemic. 
 

Lots of people not reading carefully and responding to a scenario they made up. 

Quote

 

Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention services for autism

Integrated Community Supports

Nonemergency Medical Transportation

Peer Recovery Services

Adult Rehabilitative Mental Health Services

Adult Day Services

Personal Care Assistance/Community First Services and Supports

Recuperative Care

Individualized Home Supports

Adult Companion Services

Night Supervision

Assertive Community Treatment

Intensive Residential Treatment Services

Housing Stabilization Services

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Posted (edited)
19 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Well, for one you’re reading the article wrong. It alleges that 9 billion is part of 18 billion being examined since 2018.  Minnesota spends about 19b per year. So the real percentage under question is less than 10 percent of total payouts.

No, I'm not:

 

image.png.613169a4c510520f72a8dc495135cc6d.png

The allegation is that half of the $18 billion paid by Minnesota Medicaid payments have been fraudulent. Grammatically, that is saying that half of the money paid out by Medicaid is fraudulent. That's the part that is bullshit. If the article and Mr. Thompson meant to say something different, then that is on them and not me. As presented, the article is misleading. In particular, I find this statement troubling:

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When I look at the claims data and the providers, I see more red flags than I see legitimate providers.

That's a red flag to me. I know what claims data looks like. I deal with it a lot. This sounds a lot like with DOGE scrubbed data without any understanding of what it was actually looking at. Again, an audit is under way. We should have better understanding once actual data and evidence is released. If there is fraud, prosecute it. But don't make sweeping and staggering pronouncements without significant evidence to back it up. 
 

Quote

Lots of people not reading carefully and responding to a scenario they made up. 

I agree, you're definitely doing that. 

 

Edited by Dahobbs
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Posted

Ever watch a national broadcast of your favorite local team, only to be annoyed and frustrated that their talking points are largely surface level, superficial, hyperbolic, or outright old-news?

Yeah.  Me right now.

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Posted

@Dahobbs you are 100 percent reading it wrong because you looked at the Tweet and not the article. It is not possible to continue until you back down and admit that. 
 

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A top prosecutor suggested on Thursday that the total amount of fraud in Minnesota could be $9 billion or more.

According to First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson, 14 Medicaid services under audit and deemed "high risk" for fraud have cost the state $18 billion since 2018.

Clicking through. Which you are allowed to do. 
 

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Gov. Tim Walz on Wednesday said that a third party will audit billing for 14 Medicaid services that are deemed to be "high risk" for fraud in Minnesota.

The claim by the attorney is that up to half of payments since 2018 across 14 services already deemed high-risk may be fraud. Maybe it’s bullshit, but that’s the claim.

Minnesota’s annual Medicaid payout was a bit over 18 billion in 2024. So over six years, about a sixth of that was spent in programs that Walz determined high-fraud risk. And the allegation from the AAG is that maybe half of that was fraud. 

Posted

I will fully agree that Weiss’ editors are shit. The first sentences should have been:

”Minnesota is auditing approximately $18 billion spent since 2018 across 14 Medicaid programs that were designated “high fraud risk. A U.S. prosecutor says that up to $9 billion may have been fraudulently spent.” 

Posted (edited)
15 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

@Dahobbs you are 100 percent reading it wrong because you looked at the Tweet and not the article. It is not possible to continue until you back down and admit that. 
 

Clicking through. Which you are allowed to do. 
 

The claim by the attorney is that up to half of payments since 2018 across 14 services already deemed high-risk may be fraud. Maybe it’s bullshit, but that’s the claim.

Minnesota’s annual Medicaid payout was a bit over 18 billion in 2024. So over six years, about a sixth of that was spent in programs that Walz determined high-fraud risk. And the allegation from the AAG is that maybe half of that was fraud. 

I've read both. The tweet is part of the article. If the tweet is incorrect, then that is on them and not me. We can't get anywhere until you admit it is misleading. I've gone through the material, and it frankly isn't clear what either the article or the US attorney's office are referring to. You may be correct. But I don't think that changes the substance of my problem: they are making sweeping generalizations based upon one specific instance of indicted fraud and what sounds like pretty surface level data review. If there is more, they should pursue it. 

Again, a few hundred million in fraud wouldn't surprise me. And I'm all for prosecuting it. But I'm not believing the $9 billion number without a lot of evidence. And I'm calling out the unusual prosecutorial conduct in commenting on unindicted fraud. Put up or shut up. I have a strong distaste for using the US Attorney's office to attempt to score political points, particularly when it isn't connected to indicted crimes or those without substantial evidence. I think it looks bad on our profession and is a violation of the duty of an officer of the court. 

Edited by Dahobbs
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Posted
1 hour ago, We’reTexas said:

There seems to be a reactive push to describe the fraud as immaterial

Disputing it is 9B is not describing it as immaterial 

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Posted

2nd and last post here, but here's a link to a summary article from the StarTribune about what they've been covering for about a decade, leading up to now.

https://www.startribune.com/walz-says-theres-no-evidence-of-9b-in-fraud-exposing-rift-between-state-and-feds/601549681

Spoiler

President Donald Trump’s recent comments about fraud in Minnesota has given the issue national attention. But the Minnesota Star Tribune has covered the issue for more than a decade.

Investigators have documented fraud totaling more than $200 million in the Education Department’s meals program and various Medicaid services overseen by the Department of Human Services (DHS).

The three common threads: The state was billed for services that were never provided, DHS has failed to provide sufficient oversight and many of those implicated are from Minnesota’s Somali community.

The Walz administration has taken steps in the past several months to guard against fraud, including hiring a former FBI agent to lead prevention, shutting down a program susceptible to fraud and ordering an outside audit of billing in 14 Medicaid services.

The Minnesota Star Tribune has written hundreds of stories about the unfolding fraud crisis in the state. Here’s what you need to know.

How did this start?

One of the first major scandals involving fraudsters in the Somali community started in 2015 when three Minneapolis day care centers were raided by police and accused of overbilling the state’s Child Care Assistance Program.

The program was aimed at helping low-income families with child care costs, but investigators discovered some day care operators billed the state for more children than were actually present.

Ultimately, investigators filed charges against 10 day care operators. The cases drew public outrage after an incendiary Fox 9 report alleged in 2018 that as much as $100 million annually was being misappropriated and possibly diverted to terrorist groups in East Africa.

A 2019 report from the Legislative Auditor found “no evidence” to support those claims. The total amount stolen from the child care program was between $5 million and $6 million, the report said. But investigators also concluded that internal controls at the state DHS were “insufficient to effectively prevent, detect, and investigate fraud.”

It wasn’t the first warning. A Legislative Auditor report from 2009 found that the fast-growing personal care services program remained “unacceptably vulnerable to fraud and abuse.”

DHS has long been criticized for insufficient oversight across various programs including behavioral health grants, housing support grants and home care.

Years before the uproar over day care fraud, providers and investigators said a lack of updated technology — such as electronic verification — was hampering fraud detection in home care services.

What program had the most money stolen?

In 2022, the FBI raided the offices of Feeding Our Future, a nonprofit that grew rapidly by claiming to serve meals to tens of thousands of needy children during the pandemic. Aimee Bock, the nonprofit’s founder, battled state regulators in court over failed efforts to curb the nonprofit’s extraordinary growth. In interviews with the Star Tribune, Bock defended herself and claimed she was being targeted for suing the state and serving mostly minority children.

A few months later, federal prosecutors unveiled the first of more than 70 indictments against fraudsters who participated in the program. Most of those charged were individuals of East African descent. In 2025, Bock was convicted on multiple federal charges after a lengthy trial where her co-conspirators testified about the kickbacks she solicited and the phony invoices they created to cover up their crimes.

Feeding Our Future collected $246 million in government funding from the federal Child Nutrition Program, but prosecutors have yet to provide evidence showing all of that money was misappropriated. So far, they have filed charges against 59 entities that operated meal sites under Feeding Our Future’s sponsorship that amounted to more than $128 million. More than 200 site operators have not been charged.

Did this catch government regulators by surprise?

As previously reported by the Star Tribune, the state Education Department — which oversaw the meals program — was a ripe target for fraud. Federal regulators had repeatedly faulted the department before the scandal broke, noting mounting oversight problems that left the meals program vulnerable to predators.

Moreover, Star Tribune reporters uncovered documents showing that the Education Department and the state Attorney General’s Office failed to act when a whistleblower accused the leader of Feeding Our Future of breaking the law in 2018 and 2019, before more than $200 million was paid to the nonprofit. Instead of opening an investigation, Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office referred the whistleblower to other state and federal agencies.

In late 2022, two months after the first indictments were issued, the Star Tribune revealed that day cares owned by several defendants in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme were still receiving payments from the state.

Republicans have frequently criticized Gov. Tim Walz’s administration for not doing enough to stop the fraud sooner. Democrats have defended state officials for bringing their suspicions to the FBI in early 2021 after complaining federal officials didn’t take their concerns seriously enough. But a Star Tribune review of state and federal records shows that Minnesota officials provided federal authorities with little or no evidence that Feeding Our Future was misappropriating government funds.

A report by the Office of the Legislative Auditor found the Minnesota Department of Education’s inadequate oversight “created opportunities for fraud.” Then-Education Commissioner Willie Jett, who assumed the role in 2023, said the state stopped payments after seeing explosive growth in Feeding Our Future. The nonprofit sued, and the department resumed payments after a Ramsey County judge said the department couldn’t withhold money unless it first took other steps to deal with its questionable conduct, such as reviewing receipts and verifying other records. The department chose not to impose such conditions.

That same year, Walz signed legislation establishing an inspector general at the Education Department and increased funding for fraud-detection efforts.

What other programs have been implicated?

In February, the Star Tribune revealed providers within the Medicaid-funded Housing Stabilization Services program warned the state that predatory providers were signing people up for services that were never provided. Months later, the FBI raided the offices of several companies purporting to provide services.

So far, 13 people have been charged with defrauding Medicaid through the Housing Stabilization Services program, which pays providers to help vulnerable people find and maintain stable housing. Two people have been charged with defrauding Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention, which provides services for young people with autism spectrum disorder.

Asha Farhan Hassan, the first defendant in the autism services case, pleaded guilty to the charges in December. Anwar Adow, 25, pleaded guilty in the Housing Stabilization Services case, becoming the first person convicted in the scheme.

In October, Walz ordered an outside audit of payments to providers in 14 state programs and announced a new system to review reimbursement claims.

In December, federal agents raided the premises of a Bloomington company involved in the state’s Integrated Community Supports program, which also is overseen by DHS. Federal officials believe the company filed fraudulent claims of as much as $1.1 million in 2025.

Investigators also have been looking into Medicaid fraud among addiction treatment providers. Last year the Star Tribune found many providers paid for their clients’ housing, which federal investigators said was an illegal kickback. Nuway, the state’s largest provider of such services, is paying $18.5 million to resolve allegations of fraudulent claims. That fraud scheme does not involve the Somali community.

How big is the crisis?

Trump claimed in December that Somalis have already stolen “billions” of dollars from the state, but prosecutors have not filed cases that come close to that total, records show.

While Minnesota is confronting one of the largest social services fraud scandals in its history, a Star Tribune review of court records shows the alleged fraud uncovered to date is closer to $218 million, including $24 million in the recent indictments involving housing and autism services. Programs across the country meant to help Americans weather the COVID-19 pandemic — from the meals program implicated in the Feeding Our Future crisis to the Paycheck Protection Program — were rife with fraud.

Those numbers are widely expected to grow as ongoing state and federal investigations into the state programs continue. In December,Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson predicted that prosecutors will ultimately find evidence showing that $9 billion or more has been misappropriated from what he called 14 “high-risk” state programs. He declined to say how long it would take to prosecute at least $1 billion in fraud or provide other details to back up his assertion.

Who is investigating this?

The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, the FBI and other state and federal law enforcement agencies have been investigating fraud in Medicaid programs, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office continues to bring charges against providers.

The Minnesota DHS and managed-care providers, such as HealthPartners and UCare, review allegations of fraud and forward them to law enforcement.

Walz also hired Optum, a health technology company, as an outside investigator to look for unusual billing patterns among providers in high-risk services, a pattern that was found in the meals program as well as housing and autism services.

What else is the state doing?

This summer, under new authority from the Legislature, DHS began cutting off payments to companies at the first credible allegation of fraud. That’s a significant shift from previously allowing providers to keep billing the state while investigators built a case.

In response to the ongoing investigations, DHS also took the unprecedented step of terminating its 5-year-old Housing Stabilization Services program in late October. This December, DHS also announced a two-year moratorium on new group homes due to allegations of fraud.

Walz has signed into law several new provisions aimed at reducing fraud and issued an executive order this summer. In December, Walz also announced that he has tapped former FBI agent and Public Safety Commissioner Tim O’Malley as his new point man on fraud cases.

O’Malley will report directly to Walz but said he will have autonomy in his work.

Along with O’Malley’s appointment, the Walz administration announced it would contract with an outside firm run by former law enforcement and federal agents to establish a fraud prevention plan.

At a news conference announcing O’Malley’s appointment, Walz said he took accountability for fraud in Minnesota’s programs and criticized the federal government for citing the fraud problem to target the state’s Somali community.

The fraud, he said, makes him furious.

“It undermines faith in government at a time, to be quite honest with you, that I think is one of the scariest in our nation’s history,” Walz said.

Has the Legislature weighed in?

In 2025, state lawmakers passed and Walz signed legislation bolstering fraud prevention efforts, including allowing state agencies to share data, requiring licensing for autism services providers, requiring greater oversight of the housing program and allowing the state to withhold payments from providers suspected of fraud.

A bipartisan bill to create an independent Office of the Inspector General passed the DFL-led Senate last spring but not the evenly divided House.

Fraud is expected to be a major focus during the upcoming legislative session.

Does DHS provide information about its investigations?

Generally, yes.

As of late November, DHS opened 918 investigations, referred 95 to law enforcement and had cut off payments to providers 485 times this year.

In December, DHS temporary Commissioner Shireen Gandhi said the department’s inspector general had more than 1,300 open cases.

But the state has been slow to hand over records requested by the Star Tribune. The news organization has requested billing data, emails and other records to understand the scope of the issue. The department has also denied requests by the Star Tribune for lists of providers subject to payment withholds because of credible allegations of fraud.

DHS has the authority to disclose that information and has done so in selective cases, but said “disclosure must not jeopardize the investigation and is not required.”

Has anyone lost their jobs over fraud?

Former DHS Commissioner Jodi Harpstead left the department in February after more than five years at the helm, but an agency spokeswoman said Harpstead chose to leave voluntarily.

DHS’ former Inspector General Kulani Moti changed jobs within the agency at the start of the year. She was replaced by James Clark, who previously worked on Medicaid fraud cases at the Attorney General’s Office.

Former Education Commissioner Heather Mueller left her post after Walz won a second term in 2022. Her agency had been criticized over the Feeding Our Future scandal.

At a news conference in December, Walz said former top staffers who have left state government should have been more skeptical of fraud, mentioning — though not naming — the former commissioners of Education and Human Services.

“There is no evidence or even no inkling that any of these people did anything illegal, but we needed a culture change,” Walz said.

Asked directly whether people lost their jobs over their response to fraud, Walz said “new leadership was needed” because of the issue.

Why is this getting national attention now?

Trump reacted to the fraud allegations just days after the conservative website City Journal alleged that money stolen from Minnesota’s Medicaid program had wound up in the hands of terrorists.

In a Truth Social post, Trump said that Minnesota is “a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity.”

Walz has also been a frequent target for Trump since running alongside former Vice President Kamala Harris last year. Trump criticized Walz in a lengthy Thanksgiving Day post on social media, calling him a slur for people with intellectual disabilities while also connecting him to the fraud cases and criticizing Somalis.

Walz, who is running for a third term, responded by saying Trump was spreading lies about the immigrant community and called his language “deeply offensive.”

What does this have to do with immigration?

Trump has cited Minnesota’s fraud crisis to attack Minnesota’s Somali community, calling them “garbage.” He has said he doesn’t want them in the U.S. and that they “contribute nothing.”

The Trump administration has cited the fraud crisis as justification to target Somalis for deportation and vowed to cancel Temporary Protected Status for Somalis.

Only a few hundred Somalis still have Temporary Protected Status, which is given to individuals who cannot return to their home country because of unsafe conditions. Somalis started arriving in Minnesota in large numbers in the 1990s and now number more than 108,000 statewide. The majority are naturalized or U.S.-born citizens.

While many of the defendants in the Feeding Our Future scheme and growing Medicaid fraud are of East African descent, Bock, the leader of Feeding Our Future, is a white woman.

Is the Trump administration doing anything else?

The Treasury Department says it will investigate claims that Minnesota Medicaid funds made their way to al-Shabab. The Small Business Administration also plans to investigate “the network of Somali organizations and executives” it claims have also received Paycheck Protection Program loans. Trump signed the PPP bill into law in 2020 during his first term.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said Trump directed her to look into immigrants’ visas in Minnesota. Citing reports on fraud, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families wrote to Walz and other Minnesota officials to request data on recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has demanded weekly updates from Minnesota on its review of high-risk service. It has also instructed the state to issue a moratorium on new provider enrollments and, by the end of the year, submit an action plan regarding how it will prevent future fraud.

The U.S. Department of Labor also plans to “conduct a targeted review of Minnesota’s Unemployment Insurance Program” for possible fraud in the state benefits program.

What’s Congress doing?

The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will investigate fraud in Minnesota. The committee is seeking documents from Walz and Ellison “showing what your administration knew about this fraud and whether you took action to limit or halt the investigation into this widespread fraud,” according to a letter sent by the committee.

Ellison called the effort “completely political” but said his office will evaluate it and cooperate where they can and push back when they are asking for things that are “not legally disclosable.”

Lancaster said of the committee’s investigation: “We look forward to working together. While the governor has been working to ensure fraudsters go to prison, the president has been letting them out.”

I've pasted the article, but hopefully the linked article isn't paywalled, because it itself in the body of it links 57 articles that the Strib has produced over the last 10 years.  

So, those of you who would like to know what's going on, there you go.  For the rest of you, well, have fun, but know that you sound to me like a 4 year old making the argument that her sister is a poopie head.

  • Like 1
Posted
9 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

I've read both. The tweet is part of the article. If the tweet is incorrect, then that is on them and not me. We can't get anywhere until you admit it is misleading. I've gone through the material, and it frankly isn't clear what either the article or the US attorney's office are referring to. You may be correct. But I don't think that changes the substance of my problem: they are making sweeping generalizations based upon one specific instance of indicted fraud and what sounds like pretty surface level data review. If there is more, they should pursue it. 

Again, a few hundred million in fraud wouldn't surprise me. And I'm all for prosecuting it. But I'm not believing the $9 billion number without a lot of evidence. And I'm calling out the unusual prosecutorial conduct in commenting on unindicted fraud. Put up or shut up. I have a strong distaste for using the US Attorney's office to attempt to score political points, particularly when it isn't connected to indicted crimes or those without substantial evidence. I think it looks bad on our profession and is a violation of the duty of an officer of the court. 

Your brain appears to have gone on vapor lock here. I posted the quotes. I posted what was said and the numbers. They are there to talk about. It’s not one indicated fraud case, it’s multiple. 

Even Walz has said earlier this summer he won’t be surprised if there is over a billion dollars in Feeding our Future fraud alone:

Quote

Acting U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson told KSTPthat the “vast majority” of the Housing Stabilization Services program is fraudulent. He said that when his current investigations are finished, fraud in programs administered by Minnesota could exceed $1 billion, stemming from a pandemic-era food aid program known as Feeding Our Future, the state’s autism program and rapidly increasing sums allegedly pilfered from other Medicaid programs.

Walz, at a ceremonial bill signing in Delano, said that earlier in the day Monday — nearly two weeks after the FBI raids — his administration halted payments to “most of the people involved” in the Housing Stabilization Services program. The governor said he “fully expects” some providers could wind up suing to resume payments, as occurred in a now infamous Feeding Our Future lawsuit in 2021. He agreed with Thompson that fraud in Minnesota could exceed $1 billion.

It’s a red flag to you if looking at the claims there are more problems than legitimate providers across these 14 services? Why? All of Feeding our Future was fraudulent. Basically all of the Housing Stabilization program is fraudulent. Over half of the new autism centers opened up were fake. 

It’s already happened and been indicted. These are shocking numbers for a first-world, high-trust nation. Unbelievable, even. But that’s not what we are talking about now. 

  • Hook 'Em 2
Posted (edited)
8 minutes ago, TexasHooch said:

2nd and last post here, but here's a link to a summary article from the StarTribune about what they've been covering for about a decade, leading up to now.

https://www.startribune.com/walz-says-theres-no-evidence-of-9b-in-fraud-exposing-rift-between-state-and-feds/601549681

  Reveal hidden contents

President Donald Trump’s recent comments about fraud in Minnesota has given the issue national attention. But the Minnesota Star Tribune has covered the issue for more than a decade.

Investigators have documented fraud totaling more than $200 million in the Education Department’s meals program and various Medicaid services overseen by the Department of Human Services (DHS).

The three common threads: The state was billed for services that were never provided, DHS has failed to provide sufficient oversight and many of those implicated are from Minnesota’s Somali community.

The Walz administration has taken steps in the past several months to guard against fraud, including hiring a former FBI agent to lead prevention, shutting down a program susceptible to fraud and ordering an outside audit of billing in 14 Medicaid services.

The Minnesota Star Tribune has written hundreds of stories about the unfolding fraud crisis in the state. Here’s what you need to know.

How did this start?

One of the first major scandals involving fraudsters in the Somali community started in 2015 when three Minneapolis day care centers were raided by police and accused of overbilling the state’s Child Care Assistance Program.

The program was aimed at helping low-income families with child care costs, but investigators discovered some day care operators billed the state for more children than were actually present.

Ultimately, investigators filed charges against 10 day care operators. The cases drew public outrage after an incendiary Fox 9 report alleged in 2018 that as much as $100 million annually was being misappropriated and possibly diverted to terrorist groups in East Africa.

A 2019 report from the Legislative Auditor found “no evidence” to support those claims. The total amount stolen from the child care program was between $5 million and $6 million, the report said. But investigators also concluded that internal controls at the state DHS were “insufficient to effectively prevent, detect, and investigate fraud.”

It wasn’t the first warning. A Legislative Auditor report from 2009 found that the fast-growing personal care services program remained “unacceptably vulnerable to fraud and abuse.”

DHS has long been criticized for insufficient oversight across various programs including behavioral health grants, housing support grants and home care.

Years before the uproar over day care fraud, providers and investigators said a lack of updated technology — such as electronic verification — was hampering fraud detection in home care services.

What program had the most money stolen?

In 2022, the FBI raided the offices of Feeding Our Future, a nonprofit that grew rapidly by claiming to serve meals to tens of thousands of needy children during the pandemic. Aimee Bock, the nonprofit’s founder, battled state regulators in court over failed efforts to curb the nonprofit’s extraordinary growth. In interviews with the Star Tribune, Bock defended herself and claimed she was being targeted for suing the state and serving mostly minority children.

A few months later, federal prosecutors unveiled the first of more than 70 indictments against fraudsters who participated in the program. Most of those charged were individuals of East African descent. In 2025, Bock was convicted on multiple federal charges after a lengthy trial where her co-conspirators testified about the kickbacks she solicited and the phony invoices they created to cover up their crimes.

Feeding Our Future collected $246 million in government funding from the federal Child Nutrition Program, but prosecutors have yet to provide evidence showing all of that money was misappropriated. So far, they have filed charges against 59 entities that operated meal sites under Feeding Our Future’s sponsorship that amounted to more than $128 million. More than 200 site operators have not been charged.

Did this catch government regulators by surprise?

As previously reported by the Star Tribune, the state Education Department — which oversaw the meals program — was a ripe target for fraud. Federal regulators had repeatedly faulted the department before the scandal broke, noting mounting oversight problems that left the meals program vulnerable to predators.

Moreover, Star Tribune reporters uncovered documents showing that the Education Department and the state Attorney General’s Office failed to act when a whistleblower accused the leader of Feeding Our Future of breaking the law in 2018 and 2019, before more than $200 million was paid to the nonprofit. Instead of opening an investigation, Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office referred the whistleblower to other state and federal agencies.

In late 2022, two months after the first indictments were issued, the Star Tribune revealed that day cares owned by several defendants in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme were still receiving payments from the state.

Republicans have frequently criticized Gov. Tim Walz’s administration for not doing enough to stop the fraud sooner. Democrats have defended state officials for bringing their suspicions to the FBI in early 2021 after complaining federal officials didn’t take their concerns seriously enough. But a Star Tribune review of state and federal records shows that Minnesota officials provided federal authorities with little or no evidence that Feeding Our Future was misappropriating government funds.

A report by the Office of the Legislative Auditor found the Minnesota Department of Education’s inadequate oversight “created opportunities for fraud.” Then-Education Commissioner Willie Jett, who assumed the role in 2023, said the state stopped payments after seeing explosive growth in Feeding Our Future. The nonprofit sued, and the department resumed payments after a Ramsey County judge said the department couldn’t withhold money unless it first took other steps to deal with its questionable conduct, such as reviewing receipts and verifying other records. The department chose not to impose such conditions.

That same year, Walz signed legislation establishing an inspector general at the Education Department and increased funding for fraud-detection efforts.

What other programs have been implicated?

In February, the Star Tribune revealed providers within the Medicaid-funded Housing Stabilization Services program warned the state that predatory providers were signing people up for services that were never provided. Months later, the FBI raided the offices of several companies purporting to provide services.

So far, 13 people have been charged with defrauding Medicaid through the Housing Stabilization Services program, which pays providers to help vulnerable people find and maintain stable housing. Two people have been charged with defrauding Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention, which provides services for young people with autism spectrum disorder.

Asha Farhan Hassan, the first defendant in the autism services case, pleaded guilty to the charges in December. Anwar Adow, 25, pleaded guilty in the Housing Stabilization Services case, becoming the first person convicted in the scheme.

In October, Walz ordered an outside audit of payments to providers in 14 state programs and announced a new system to review reimbursement claims.

In December, federal agents raided the premises of a Bloomington company involved in the state’s Integrated Community Supports program, which also is overseen by DHS. Federal officials believe the company filed fraudulent claims of as much as $1.1 million in 2025.

Investigators also have been looking into Medicaid fraud among addiction treatment providers. Last year the Star Tribune found many providers paid for their clients’ housing, which federal investigators said was an illegal kickback. Nuway, the state’s largest provider of such services, is paying $18.5 million to resolve allegations of fraudulent claims. That fraud scheme does not involve the Somali community.

How big is the crisis?

Trump claimed in December that Somalis have already stolen “billions” of dollars from the state, but prosecutors have not filed cases that come close to that total, records show.

While Minnesota is confronting one of the largest social services fraud scandals in its history, a Star Tribune review of court records shows the alleged fraud uncovered to date is closer to $218 million, including $24 million in the recent indictments involving housing and autism services. Programs across the country meant to help Americans weather the COVID-19 pandemic — from the meals program implicated in the Feeding Our Future crisis to the Paycheck Protection Program — were rife with fraud.

Those numbers are widely expected to grow as ongoing state and federal investigations into the state programs continue. In December,Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson predicted that prosecutors will ultimately find evidence showing that $9 billion or more has been misappropriated from what he called 14 “high-risk” state programs. He declined to say how long it would take to prosecute at least $1 billion in fraud or provide other details to back up his assertion.

Who is investigating this?

The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, the FBI and other state and federal law enforcement agencies have been investigating fraud in Medicaid programs, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office continues to bring charges against providers.

The Minnesota DHS and managed-care providers, such as HealthPartners and UCare, review allegations of fraud and forward them to law enforcement.

Walz also hired Optum, a health technology company, as an outside investigator to look for unusual billing patterns among providers in high-risk services, a pattern that was found in the meals program as well as housing and autism services.

What else is the state doing?

This summer, under new authority from the Legislature, DHS began cutting off payments to companies at the first credible allegation of fraud. That’s a significant shift from previously allowing providers to keep billing the state while investigators built a case.

In response to the ongoing investigations, DHS also took the unprecedented step of terminating its 5-year-old Housing Stabilization Services program in late October. This December, DHS also announced a two-year moratorium on new group homes due to allegations of fraud.

Walz has signed into law several new provisions aimed at reducing fraud and issued an executive order this summer. In December, Walz also announced that he has tapped former FBI agent and Public Safety Commissioner Tim O’Malley as his new point man on fraud cases.

O’Malley will report directly to Walz but said he will have autonomy in his work.

Along with O’Malley’s appointment, the Walz administration announced it would contract with an outside firm run by former law enforcement and federal agents to establish a fraud prevention plan.

At a news conference announcing O’Malley’s appointment, Walz said he took accountability for fraud in Minnesota’s programs and criticized the federal government for citing the fraud problem to target the state’s Somali community.

The fraud, he said, makes him furious.

“It undermines faith in government at a time, to be quite honest with you, that I think is one of the scariest in our nation’s history,” Walz said.

Has the Legislature weighed in?

In 2025, state lawmakers passed and Walz signed legislation bolstering fraud prevention efforts, including allowing state agencies to share data, requiring licensing for autism services providers, requiring greater oversight of the housing program and allowing the state to withhold payments from providers suspected of fraud.

A bipartisan bill to create an independent Office of the Inspector General passed the DFL-led Senate last spring but not the evenly divided House.

Fraud is expected to be a major focus during the upcoming legislative session.

Does DHS provide information about its investigations?

Generally, yes.

As of late November, DHS opened 918 investigations, referred 95 to law enforcement and had cut off payments to providers 485 times this year.

In December, DHS temporary Commissioner Shireen Gandhi said the department’s inspector general had more than 1,300 open cases.

But the state has been slow to hand over records requested by the Star Tribune. The news organization has requested billing data, emails and other records to understand the scope of the issue. The department has also denied requests by the Star Tribune for lists of providers subject to payment withholds because of credible allegations of fraud.

DHS has the authority to disclose that information and has done so in selective cases, but said “disclosure must not jeopardize the investigation and is not required.”

Has anyone lost their jobs over fraud?

Former DHS Commissioner Jodi Harpstead left the department in February after more than five years at the helm, but an agency spokeswoman said Harpstead chose to leave voluntarily.

DHS’ former Inspector General Kulani Moti changed jobs within the agency at the start of the year. She was replaced by James Clark, who previously worked on Medicaid fraud cases at the Attorney General’s Office.

Former Education Commissioner Heather Mueller left her post after Walz won a second term in 2022. Her agency had been criticized over the Feeding Our Future scandal.

At a news conference in December, Walz said former top staffers who have left state government should have been more skeptical of fraud, mentioning — though not naming — the former commissioners of Education and Human Services.

“There is no evidence or even no inkling that any of these people did anything illegal, but we needed a culture change,” Walz said.

Asked directly whether people lost their jobs over their response to fraud, Walz said “new leadership was needed” because of the issue.

Why is this getting national attention now?

Trump reacted to the fraud allegations just days after the conservative website City Journal alleged that money stolen from Minnesota’s Medicaid program had wound up in the hands of terrorists.

In a Truth Social post, Trump said that Minnesota is “a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity.”

Walz has also been a frequent target for Trump since running alongside former Vice President Kamala Harris last year. Trump criticized Walz in a lengthy Thanksgiving Day post on social media, calling him a slur for people with intellectual disabilities while also connecting him to the fraud cases and criticizing Somalis.

Walz, who is running for a third term, responded by saying Trump was spreading lies about the immigrant community and called his language “deeply offensive.”

What does this have to do with immigration?

Trump has cited Minnesota’s fraud crisis to attack Minnesota’s Somali community, calling them “garbage.” He has said he doesn’t want them in the U.S. and that they “contribute nothing.”

The Trump administration has cited the fraud crisis as justification to target Somalis for deportation and vowed to cancel Temporary Protected Status for Somalis.

Only a few hundred Somalis still have Temporary Protected Status, which is given to individuals who cannot return to their home country because of unsafe conditions. Somalis started arriving in Minnesota in large numbers in the 1990s and now number more than 108,000 statewide. The majority are naturalized or U.S.-born citizens.

While many of the defendants in the Feeding Our Future scheme and growing Medicaid fraud are of East African descent, Bock, the leader of Feeding Our Future, is a white woman.

Is the Trump administration doing anything else?

The Treasury Department says it will investigate claims that Minnesota Medicaid funds made their way to al-Shabab. The Small Business Administration also plans to investigate “the network of Somali organizations and executives” it claims have also received Paycheck Protection Program loans. Trump signed the PPP bill into law in 2020 during his first term.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said Trump directed her to look into immigrants’ visas in Minnesota. Citing reports on fraud, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families wrote to Walz and other Minnesota officials to request data on recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has demanded weekly updates from Minnesota on its review of high-risk service. It has also instructed the state to issue a moratorium on new provider enrollments and, by the end of the year, submit an action plan regarding how it will prevent future fraud.

The U.S. Department of Labor also plans to “conduct a targeted review of Minnesota’s Unemployment Insurance Program” for possible fraud in the state benefits program.

What’s Congress doing?

The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will investigate fraud in Minnesota. The committee is seeking documents from Walz and Ellison “showing what your administration knew about this fraud and whether you took action to limit or halt the investigation into this widespread fraud,” according to a letter sent by the committee.

Ellison called the effort “completely political” but said his office will evaluate it and cooperate where they can and push back when they are asking for things that are “not legally disclosable.”

Lancaster said of the committee’s investigation: “We look forward to working together. While the governor has been working to ensure fraudsters go to prison, the president has been letting them out.”

I've pasted the article, but hopefully the linked article isn't paywalled, because it itself in the body of it links 57 articles that the Strib has produced over the last 10 years.  

So, those of you who would like to know what's going on, there you go.  For the rest of you, well, have fun, but know that you sound to me like a 4 year old making the argument that her sister is a poopie head.

Just to be clear are you asserting there is 9 B of fraud in the Minn Medicaid program due to the actions of Somalis? Because that’s what everyone here has a problem with. That assertion. By a US attorney. 

Edited by Sawbonz
  • Hook 'Em 1
Posted
2 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Your brain appears to have gone on vapor lock here. I posted the quotes. I posted what was said and the numbers. They are there to talk about. It’s not one indicated fraud case, it’s multiple. 
 

Why are you being so dense?  My response was to this particular article. I get that there is other fraud happening out there. I get that other fraud has been indicted. But nothing close to the $9 billion has been indicted. You have someone putting out an outrageous number with very little evidence to back it up. That isn't proper for a US attorney. It just isn't. 

Quote

Even Walz has said earlier this summer he won’t be surprised if there is over a billion dollars in Feeding our Future fraud alone:

Source?

Quote

It’s a red flag to you if looking at the claims there are more problems than legitimate providers across these 14 services? Why?

No, it is a red flag to me that one could identify fraudulent services by merely reviewing claims data. It basically never works that way. Again, I've done this work. I know what the data looks like. You can't do a skin level analysis and say these must be fraudulent because... uh... reasons. 

Quote

 

All of Feeding our Future was fraudulent. Basically all of the Housing Stabilization program is fraudulent. Over half of the new autism centers opened up were fake. It’s already happened and been indicted. These are shocking numbers for a first-world, high-trust nation.

Unbelievable, even. But that’s not what we are talking about now. 

 

Sources? I can't find any (beyond politicians just saying things) that support these statements. There was definitely fraud to some significant degree. And I think it varied pretty widely. Some facilities were out right fake and didn't provide services. Other facilities provided services, but perhaps did so in a substandard way. But your statements appear to be significant exaggerations on the actual facts I can find. 

Posted

The point is not that the fraud announced in this particular release is de minimis or that fraud doesn't exist.

The point is, the United States Department of Justice used this relatively small fraud involving a small number of people to take shots at political enemies in the form of the State of Minnesota, Tim Walz, Somalians and so on, without any evidentiary basis to do so.

That's not DOJ standard operating procedure.

  • Hook 'Em 2
Posted
2 minutes ago, Sawbonz said:

Just to be clear are you asserting there is 9 B or fraud in the Minn Medicaid program due to the actions of Somalis?

Fuuuuuuuuuck.  The article I linked is not the article I quoted.  

https://www.startribune.com/heres-what-to-know-about-minnesotas-fraud-crisis/601542128

To your question, the only thing I've asserted is that the majority of posters here are making grand arguments based on tweets, articles, and political statements they've learned about in the past week, and that it makes many of them sound ignorant to me-- someone who's followed it for years.

I didn't want to give my opinion. The whole point was for people to actually educate themselves on the information, not just the last week of propaganda and its opposition.  But fine...

There is, going back to 2006 really, a widespread, systemic fraud problem in Minnesota.  For a variety of possible reasons, the the overall demographic of fraudsters have been over represented by people of Somali decent. While State, Federal, and state contracted third-party investigations are ongoing (and have been for years), there is no actual evidence that the fraud totals amount to anything remotely close to 9 B dollars. 

 

Posted
31 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

 

Sources? I can't find any (beyond politicians just saying things) that support these statements. There was definitely fraud to some significant degree. And I think it varied pretty widely. Some facilities were out right fake and didn't provide services. Other facilities provided services, but perhaps did so in a substandard way. But your statements appear to be significant exaggerations on the actual facts I can find. 

Are you kidding me man? 
 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feeding_Our_Future

Quote

Federal prosecutors allege that only around 3% of the funding granted to Feeding Our Future meal sites was spent on food, while the remainder was funneled to the individual conspirators involved in the fraud.[11] At its peak, the organization listed 299 "meal sites", which purported to have served 90 million meals in less than 2 years (more than 120,000 meals per day). One site surveilled by the FBI claiming to serve 6,000 meals per day actually averaged around 40 visitors

They simply closed the Housing Stabilization program due to fraud.

Quote

 

Posted
4 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Are you kidding me man? 
 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feeding_Our_Future

They simply closed the Housing Stabilization program due to fraud.

 

Dude, you're being really dense here. I get that the non-profit Feeding our Future was fraudulent. You also claimed:

  • Basically all of the Housing Stabilization program is fraudulent.
  • Over half of the new autism centers opened up were fake.
  • Even Walz has said earlier this summer he won’t be surprised if there is over a billion dollars in Feeding our Future fraud alone

I can't find any specific facts that support these statements.

Again, I'm not contending that there isn't significant fraud. I'm just saying the particular article and statements from the DOJ improperly imply evidence of $9 billion without having it and without indicting it.  

Posted

How the Minnesota Star Tribune analyzed alleged fraud totals in Minnesota

The Trump administration says fraud totals are in the billions but the evidence doesn’t meet the claim. Here’s how we did the analysis.

December 11, 2025 at 3:22PM

https://www.startribune.com/how-we-analyzed-alleged-fraud-totals-in-minnesota/601543149

Quote

When President Donald Trump said Somalis in Minnesota had stolen “billions” of dollars in public funds, his claim raised some eyebrows among Star Tribune reporters and editors who have reported extensively about numerous fraud investigations over the years.

There’s no doubt that those schemes involved huge amounts of public money, but was it billions — with a b?

To answer that question we conducted our own accounting based on court records, criminal charges and convictions across dozens of cases that have dominated headlines in the state for years.

Our tally: $217.7 million to date. That number is likely to grow as fraud investigations continue, but it is currently far short of both Trump’s claim and the figures commonly cited by prosecutors and widely reported by some local and national media outlets.

Our calculation has been criticized by conservative activists, media outlets and others who’ve followed the cases. Here’s a closer look at how we got there.

What we counted — and didn’t

First, we set some ground rules:

We counted only the amount of taxpayer money alleged to be stolen or misused, not the total amount that may have passed among defendants. For example, if someone stole $10 in taxpayer money and gave $5 of it to a partner in crime, it’s still $10 in stolen taxpayer money — not $15.

We counted only money cited in the public record, such as criminal charges, plea agreements and convictions.

We did not use projections or estimates. When more evidence — charges, plea agreements, convictions, audits — is presented, we’ll update our tally.

We first analyzed a database the Star Tribune built during the Feeding Our Future investigation that focused on a meals program overseen by Minnesota’s Department of Education. The database tracks every criminal case involving the theft of state and federal funds since the first Feeding Our Future indictment was issued in September 2022.

Feeding Our Future obtained a total of $246 million in public money since 2018, according to documents presented by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. But those records show only $127.7 million went to 59 groups or individuals whose owners and operators have been charged or convicted of fraud. More than 200 other entities that received reimbursement payments through Feeding Our Future for providing meals to needy children have not been accused of wrongdoing, so we did not include that money.

Next, we included $66 million from the meals program linked to two businesses sponsored by Partners in Nutrition, a nonprofit that has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing. The owners and operators of those companies — Empire Cuisine & Market and Haji’s Kitchen — were convicted on federal charges in 2024.

We also included fraud alleged in the most recent indictments involving two state programs that have experienced very rapid growth since they were launched. One aimed to provide housing for the homeless; another was supposed to provide support services for people with autism.

Eight people have been charged for misappropriating $10 million from the housing program. One person was charged for defrauding the Autism program of $14 million.

Widespread fraud fears prompted the state to shut down the 5-year-old homeless housing program in late October, prompting some critics to conclude the entire program is fraudulent. But even if you count every dollar spent on both the housing and autism programs in fiscal 2025, that would add $330 million to the fraud total — still far less than $1 billion.

The Star Tribune is not counting all of that money as fraud.

What is fraud?

Federal prosecutors dispute the Star Tribune’s accounting. They often describe Feeding Our Future as a $250 million scam, arguing in court that all of the funds were “fraudulently obtained.” The lead prosecutor in Feeding our Future and other fraud cases has told media outlets that the final tally could exceed $1 billion.

Joe Thompson, who served as acting U.S. Attorney between May and October, declined an interview request, but the U.S. Attorney’s Office issued a statement in response to the Star Tribune’s reporting. The office asked that the statement be printed in its entirety.

“This summer and fall, while serving as the Acting United States Attorney, Joseph H. Thompson made several statements, of increasing urgency, concerning the scope of the fraud in Minnesota and the coming iceberg he saw ahead,” the statement reads. “Mr. Thompson, a career prosecutor, has been leading the investigation of fraud against the government, including the Federal Child Nutrition Program fraud (itself more than $300 million in proven fraud loss), the EIDBI Autism fraud, the Housing Stabilization Services fraud, and fraud in other state Medicaid programs. To date, these prosecutions have resulted in 86 defendants charged and 59 convictions. These efforts have also helped identify another dozen programs for which the state of Minnesota has issued a payment suspension due to rampant fraud and abuse. Mr. Thompson predicted that when the ongoing fraud prosecutions are finished, the U.S. Attorney’s Office will have prosecuted a billion dollars in fraud against the government. Mr. Thompson further explained that he believes that the true scope of the fraud will run into the billions of dollars. The office fully stands by these comments. They are accurate and, if anything, understated.”

In a prior interview, Thompson acknowledged it’s a herculean task to gather enough evidence to prosecute every suspected fraud case. It took four years and a major commitment of resources to bring the current crop of cases.

Mark Osler, a former federal prosecutor who now teaches law at the University of St. Thomas, said prosecutors will likely argue the highest figure possible to obtain the stiffest penalty for Feeding Our Future founder Aimee Bock.

“The sentence and the amount of restitution will be tied to the amount of loss,” said Osler, an expert in criminal procedure. “They’ll have the opportunity to prove that higher number out if they’ve got it. But that hasn’t happened so far ... It seems like it would be a hard pull.”

Osler said the newspaper’s methodology was appropriate for this case.

 

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Posted
7 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

Dude, you're being really dense here. I get that the non-profit Feeding our Future was fraudulent. You also claimed:

  • Basically all of the Housing Stabilization program is fraudulent.
  • Over half of the new autism centers opened up were fake.
  • Even Walz has said earlier this summer he won’t be surprised if there is over a billion dollars in Feeding our Future fraud alone

I can't find any specific facts that support these statements.

Again, I'm not contending that there isn't significant fraud. I'm just saying the particular article and statements from the DOJ improperly imply evidence of $9 billion without having it and without indicting it.  

Here is Walz saying that he agrees with Thompson that there was likely in excess of one billion in fraud:

https://minnesotareformer.com/2025/07/28/walz-says-he-stopped-payments-to-50-of-the-largest-housing-stabilization-providers/

Quote

Walz, at a ceremonial bill signing in Delano, said that earlier in the day Monday — nearly two weeks after the FBI raids — his administration halted payments to “most of the people involved” in the Housing Stabilization Services program. The governor said he “fully expects” some providers could wind up suing to resume payments, as occurred in a now infamous Feeding Our Future lawsuit in 2021. He agreed with Thompson that fraud in Minnesota could exceed $1 billion.

When do we get to stop calling it “relatively small?” Ok, maybe it’s not nine billion but it’s more than one? I think it’s a problem for Walz that he can’t settle on a number. 
 

I have set doubt that fraud schemes is far beyond the scale Minnesota wanted to admit, and after a couple of programs were found to be overwhelmingly fake, I also don’t doubt that there are others out there. I don’t believe that the feds got all of it. I’ve been to plenty of communities where defrauding social programs is basically the only economic game in town. It’s not something that is beyond possibility and r the way Minnesota has handled its responsibilities is deeply embarrassing. 

Posted (edited)
21 minutes ago, TexasHooch said:

How the Minnesota Star Tribune analyzed alleged fraud totals in Minnesota

The Trump administration says fraud totals are in the billions but the evidence doesn’t meet the claim. Here’s how we did the analysis.

December 11, 2025 at 3:22PM

https://www.startribune.com/how-we-analyzed-alleged-fraud-totals-in-minnesota/601543149

 

This is a true and accurate accounting of the amount of fraud that’s been proven in court. 
 

The problem is that it’s not believable as even a close estimate of the actual scale, and that the time has come and gone to gather an accurate estimation. If I were describing this in an Eastern European country for a transparency NGO, I’d write:

”Corruption in the public health and welfare services in Svaty Pavel is endemic. Prosecuted cases have tallied at least $217 million over six years although there is little doubt that the accurate figure is many times that number. Due to political and social sensitivities, local officials failed to investigate credible claims for several years while national counter-corruption officials pursued only the most egregious and probable cases due to the tremendous resources required.

The fraud has become a national scandal, with the populist leader seeking to exploit it for political gain. His opponents are scrambling to mount an effective response due to the gross incompetency and oversight demonstrated by the opposition party in providing oversight of state funds. A full accounting of misspent funds is likely impossible based on the scale and duration of the fraudulent activity.” 
 

The information useful. But no serious person can argue, for instance, that a successful prosecuted RICO cases represent close to a full accounting of economic losses due to mafia activity over the years. 

Edited by 956 Worldwide
Posted
25 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Here is Walz saying that he agrees with Thompson that there was likely in excess of one billion in fraud:

https://minnesotareformer.com/2025/07/28/walz-says-he-stopped-payments-to-50-of-the-largest-housing-stabilization-providers/

I've tried to find an actual quote to back that article up. The statement in the article seems to mispresent what I've seen that Walz said. He agreed it was significant and substantial. I don't think I saw anywhere where he agreed over $1 billion was fraudulent. 

Quote

When do we get to stop calling it “relatively small?” Ok, maybe it’s not nine billion but it’s more than one? I think it’s a problem for Walz that he can’t settle on a number. 

You're taking the comment out of context. Relatively small was referenced the few million indicted in the original post. 

Quote

I have set doubt that fraud schemes is far beyond the scale Minnesota wanted to admit, and after a couple of programs were found to be overwhelmingly fake, I also don’t doubt that there are others out there. I don’t believe that the feds got all of it. I’ve been to plenty of communities where defrauding social programs is basically the only economic game in town. It’s not something that is beyond possibility and r the way Minnesota has handled its responsibilities is deeply embarrassing. 

I have no issue with this statement generally. I have issue with a US attorney throwing out a bullshit number that isn't supported by evidence. I have issue with a tweet headline that implied it was half the Medicaid program that was fraudulent. These statements are exaggerations and misrepresentations. I can be upset about them AND upset about fraud. They aren't mutually exclusive things. Stop suggesting that is how I view it or how this thread has responded. It is incredibly disingenuous and you're better than that.  

Posted
11 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

This is a true and accurate accounting of the amount of fraud that’s been proven in court. 
 

No. It is a true and accurate accounting of the amount that has been alleged in court. That is a very significant difference. Not every allegation is true and not every allegation will be proven true. 

Quote

 

The problem is that it’s not believable as even a close estimate of the actual scale, and that the time has come and gone to gather an accurate estimation. If I were describing this in an Eastern European country for a transparency NGO, I’d write:

”Corruption in the public health and welfare services in Svaty Pavel is endemic. Prosecuted cases have tallied at least $217 million over six years although there is little doubt that the accurate figure is many times that number. Due to political and social sensitivities, local officials failed to investigate credible claims for several years while national counter-corruption officials pursued only the most egregious and probable cases due to the tremendous resources required.

The fraud has become a national scandal, with the populist leader seeking to exploit it for political gain. His opponents are scrambling to mount an effective response due to the gross incompetency and oversight demonstrated by the opposition party in providing oversight of state funds. A full accounting of misspent funds is likely impossible based on the scale and duration of the fraudulent activity.” 
 

The information useful. But no serious person can argue, for instance, that a successful prosecuted RICO cases represent close to a full accounting of economic losses due to mafia activity over the years. 

 

I get that you have your own pet perspective on this. But you're completely misrepresenting what others have said and I don't appreciate it. 

 

Posted
1 hour ago, TexasHooch said:

The whole point was for people to actually educate themselves on the information, not just the last week of propaganda and its opposition.  But fine...

So you are aligned with all of us who pointed out that OP link was click bait/troll job. That’s good

  • Hook 'Em 1
Posted (edited)

This is a true and accurate accounting of the amount of fraud that’s been proven in court. 

31 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

This is a true and accurate accounting of the amount of fraud that’s been proven in court. 
 

False.  Read it again, if you read it at all.

Edited by TexasHooch
  • Hook 'Em 1
Posted
17 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

No. It is a true and accurate accounting of the amount that has been alleged in court. That is a very significant difference. Not every allegation is true and not every allegation will be proven true. 

I get that you have your own pet perspective on this. But you're completely misrepresenting what others have said and I don't appreciate it. 

 

You completely misrepresented the funds being discussed and the blamed the tweet for it. 



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