The $90 Million Minnesota Medicaid Heist

These operators targeted Medicaid programs designed to help society's most vulnerable, including autistic children and adults with severe disabilities. Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention (EIDBI), is a Medicaid program supposed to offer necessary medical services to kids under 21 with autism. Shamso A. Hassan and Hanaan M. Yusuf allegedly ran a $46.6 million scam here as part owners of the Smart Therapy Center in Minneapolis and the Star Autism Center in St. Cloud. Now, the two defendants are at the center of what Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy recently designated the "largest autism fraud bust in American history." They allegedly handed out kickbacks to parents, slapped autism diagnoses on kids who didn't even need them, and billed the government for services that never happened. This deprived the children who genuinely needed care from actually getting it. Integrated Community Supports program, or ICS, pays for daily one-on-one help so people can live independently instead of going into a group home. One defendant billed the state $1.4 million for around-the-clock care that was a complete ghost story. In one brutal reality check, a patient was found dead a day after the provider billed for 24-hour care they clearly did not provide. Then there is the Individualized Home Supports program, known as IHS. This program helps adults with issues like brain injuries live in their own homes. Medicaid rules explicitly say providers cannot own the housing where their patients live. Two defendants completely ignored that rule, bought over 20 houses, and hid their ownership from Medicaid. They moved patients into these homes just to steal their Medicaid data, billed for fake services, and used the $22 million in proceeds to buy more real estate, luxury cars, and expensive jewelry. Don't forget the Housing Stabilization Services program, or HSS, which helps seniors and people with mental illnesses find housing. The barriers to entry were so low that people were literally engaging in "fraud tourism". Defendants from Pennsylvania were traveling to Minnesota specifically to loot this program. They scammed the state out of $15.7 million. The fraud was so bad that Minnesota had to completely shut the HSS program down on October 31, 2025. That means the legitimate beneficiaries who relied on that program are entirely out of luck. The final grift hit child care programs. Two defendants targeted the Great Start Compensation Support Payment Program and the Child Care Assistance Program. These programs subsidize child care centers and teacher pay. Together, they siphoned off over $5 million. The government is not just issuing fines anymore. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz recently emphasized that the sheer scale of this grift necessitates the federal government directly taking control of criminal investigations, rather than relying on state-level enforcement. Thus, the Justice Department is actively expanding their Health Care Fraud Section. They are hiring 15 new trial attorneys to hunt down Medicaid fraud nationwide. They are also expanding the Midwest Strike Force right into Minnesota to stop the bleeding. The message here is crystal clear. If you are running a business that touches Medicaid dollars, the government is watching your every move.