St. Cloud, Minnesota: Four Charged in $41 Million Healthcare Fraud Scheme as Patel and Bessent Announce Crackdown

Federal officials came to St. Cloud on Friday, October 30, to announce that four people have been charged in a healthcare fraud scheme that prosecutors say was built to steal more than $41 million from federal health programs. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and FBI Director Kash Patel led the announcement, joined by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson and Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald.

Seventeen search warrants in one day

Patel said FBI Minneapolis and its partners executed 17 search warrants in a single day on Thursday, October 29, and combined the results into a 26 count indictment. Three of the warrants were served at a childcare center, two at the homes of the owners of those centers, and two at the Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention unit in Minnesota, which pays for intensive autism services for young people. The Treasury Department said the four defendants intended to defraud victims of more than $41 million and that actual losses reached $21.65 million. The FBI ran the investigation with IRS Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Homeland Security Investigations.

Four defendants, four businesses

Feisal Elmi, of Aspen Associates, faces 11 counts of healthcare fraud. Jama Mohamod, of American Home Healthcare, faces six counts. Faiza Ahmed, of Home Sweet Home, which billed for care for elderly and disabled people, faces eight counts. Habiba Mohamed, of Smart Therapy, faces one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. The charges are allegations set out in an indictment, and none of the four has been convicted.

Watching the money leave the country

Bessent said the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, and the White House Task Force on Eliminating Fraud have sent financial institutions new notices on how to spot suspicious money moving overseas. FinCEN issued an alert on cross border payments through money services businesses after financial institutions reported more than $8 billion in potentially suspicious wire payments from 2021 to 2025, and a separate notice on the abuse of charities and nonprofits. "The FBI is following the money, and if you steal from the government or American taxpayers, justice will find you," Patel said. Bessent criticized Minnesota Governor Tim Walz over the state's handling of public funds. Vice President JD Vance, who runs the fraud task force, stayed in Washington.

One front in a wider Minnesota fraud fight

The St. Cloud announcement is the federal government's latest move in a long running fight over fraud in Minnesota programs. Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter called Minnesota the epicenter for fraud in America and said the Minnesota Fraud Task Force is backed by more than a thousand subpoenas and 40 warrants. Oz said his agency signed a cooperation agreement with the Treasury Department earlier this month, and that one in three providers in 14 high risk categories could not be revalidated. Bessent also pointed to the $25 million whistleblower program announced on October 20, which pays up to $30,000 for a tip that leads to a conviction. The new federal charges land in a state still working through the $250 million Feeding Our Future case, the pandemic era child nutrition fraud scheme first charged in September 2022. In a separate state action, Attorney General Keith Ellison announced on Thursday that state and federal agents had raided two Twin Cities autism service centers, Iska Inc. and Bright Horizon Therapy Center, in a Medicaid fraud investigation.