The first defendant in Minnesota’s sprawling Medicaid autism program fraud scandal pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud on Thursday. Asha Farhan Hassan, 28, was part of a scheme defrauding Medicaid of $14 million in taxpayer dollars. Additionally, Hassan participated in a separate fraud scheme that saw the theft of $465,000 from a food assistance program for needy children.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Minnesota announced new charges against six other defendants in what the Department of Justice describes as “staggering, industrial-scale fraud.” The schemes are part of a broader fraud conspiracy tied to the state’s Somali immigrant community, which is now believed to have stolen an estimated $9 billion in taxpayer dollars.
“To be clear, this is not an isolated scheme. From Feeding Our Future to Housing Stabilization Services and now Autism Services, these massive fraud schemes form a web that has stolen billions of dollars in taxpayer money. Each case we bring exposes another strand of this network. The challenge is immense, but our work continues,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson.
Evidence presented by federal prosecutors detailed how Hassan participated in fraudulent claims for a Medicaid program aimed at supporting children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and in the Feeding Our Future nonprofit, which misused state grants intended to provide meals to schoolchildren. Investigators allege that much of the money was stolen, with few meals ever delivered.
Governor Tim Walz (D) has faced mounting criticism for his administration’s failure to take action against the fraud schemes. State government whistleblowers claim that Walz and other state officials were aware of the fraud network as early as 2019 but avoided taking legal action out of fear of being seen as “racist” by the powerful Minnesota Somali voter constituency.
