Minnesota’s Fraud Fiasco: Somalis Caught in Homeless Aid Scam After Food and Autism Schemes

"Minnesota is drowning in fraud," Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson declared, and guys, he is not kidding. 

The Land of 10,000 Lakes is swimming in a cesspool of scams, and the latest chapter in this saga is incredible. After the jaw-dropping $250 million "Feeding Our Future" fraud, where Somali groups allegedly pocketed a quarter-billion dollars by claiming to feed ghost kids, and a Medicaid autism scam that ballooned from $3 million to $400 million in just four years, we've now got a fresh outrage: housing fraud. This one’s yet another gut-punch to taxpayers.

Let's rewind. The "Feeding Our Future" scheme saw Somali-run non-profits fleece taxpayers for $250 million, with funds jumping from $3.4 million in 2019 to $197 million by 2021. Poof! Money gone, kids nowhere to be found. 

Then there's the autism racket. Medicaid claims for Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention (EIDBI) in Minnesota skyrocketed from $3 million in 2018 to nearly $400 million in 2024, totaling over $1.4 billion. How? A 700% surge in providers, from 41 to 328 in five years, fueled by claims that 1 in 16 Somali four-year-olds (6%) suddenly had autism. That’s not a medical miracle; that's too crazy and a red flag.

Now, the feds have dropped the hammer on what they're calling a "massive" fraud in Minnesota's Medicaid-funded housing stabilization program. On Thursday, eight people were charged in connection with schemes that allegedly siphoned off $10 million meant for the homeless. That's four times what the state expected to spend annually when the program launched. The state projected $2.6 million a year; last year, it ballooned to $105.4 million for 21,000 participants and 1,800 providers. Thompson didn't mince words: "As many of you know, Minnesota is drowning in fraud. The level of fraud in these programs is staggering. Unfortunately, our system of ‘trust but verify’ no longer works. These programs have been abused over and over to the point where the fraud has overtaken the legitimate services."

Federal prosecutors point to defendants like Moktar Hassan Aden, 30, Mustafa Dayib Ali, 29, Khalid Ahmed Dayib, 26, and Abdifitah Mohamud Mohamed, 27, tied to Brilliant Minds, a company that allegedly helped itself to $300,000-$400,000 per defendant. They even shared a Platinum American Express card, racking up nearly half a million in charges to live large. Then there's Asad Ahmed Adow, 26, whose Leo Human Services LLC reportedly pocketed $2.7 million for 250 supposed beneficiaries, and Anwar Ahmed Adow, 25, whose Liberty Plus LLC in Roseville allegedly grabbed $1.2 million for 200 people. Thompson noted the “significant” overlap with the Feeding Our Future case, where 75 people have been charged and over 50 convicted. "We saw bank records routinely where people were purporting to serve meals to thousands of kids a day and they’re also purporting to run an autism clinic or a PCA services program or home healthcare," he said.

The victims were everyday Minnesotans, often the most vulnerable. 

Rachel Lien told KARE 11 Investigates that Brilliant Minds billed her insurance over $2,000 for a Shark vacuum and zero housing help. Billing records showed the company claimed to be house-hunting for her, with notes like, "I visited these properties, I went in person on Rachel's behalf because these two options were strong matches for her housing criteria." Lien says it never happened. Another client, Julie, said Liberty Plus promised housing but left her and her dog living in her car. Steven Smith was stunned to find his name on Leo Human Services' documents, including a signature as "Steven Jr Smith" (not his name). "I did not sign this legal document," he told KARE 11. "Why would I say that I'm Steven Jr Smith? My middle name is actually Steven Dwayne Smith."

Metadata revealed the document was authored by someone named Wats Hanin, still a mystery.

It gets worse. Latasha, another client, said Leo billed $38,000 in her name for job-hunting services she never received, including absurd listings like police intern and ice-skating instructor, roles she was unqualified for. Investigators suspect AI was used to generate cookie-cutter service records, with identical language copied and pasted. Ben and Haley Gutoski, fresh out of addiction treatment, turned to Pristine Health for housing help in 2024. They got ghosted, yet Pristine billed Ben's Medicaid for 90 hours of "service" worth $6,318, and billed Haley's insurance separately for the same household.

This is a betrayal. Gov. Tim Walz and his allies have watched this train wreck unfold while cozying up to their political base. Over $1 billion in taxpayer money; gone. And Thompson says this is just the "first wave" of cases, with hundreds of companies under scrutiny. Minnesota's welfare system is being looted, and the folks paying the price are the poor, the needy, and the taxpayers footing the bill.

The point is, this isn't just about fraud, it's about a system that's been gamed repeatedly, with the same players popping up across schemes. The feds are connecting the dots, but the question remains: why did it take this long? Minnesota’s "trust but verify" model is broken, and the real cost is trust itself.

Ilhan Omar much?

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