The Department of Justice has charged 15 people in Minnesota with allegedly running fraud schemes that targeted more than $90 million in taxpayer money.
Colin McDonald, assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s National Fraud Enforcement Division, said:
Today we are announcing criminal charges against 15 defendants in Minnesota for fraud schemes that targeted over 90 million in taxpayer dollars.
Let me be clear up front about something. This is not the end of our work in Minnesota. This is not the end of the beginning of our work in Minnesota. This is the beginning of our work in Minnesota. The fraud here in Minnesota is shocking.
Our cases today involve seven different state managed Medicaid programs that have been systematically pilfered by fraudsters who treated Minnesota-run programs as their personal piggy bank.
One of the programs has been completely shut down because there’s no money left. It’s all gone. That was Minnesota state-run housing stabilization services program designed to help the homeless find and maintain housing. It was estimated in 2020 that it would cost only about $2.5 million a year to fund this program, but it ended up costing almost 50 times that much, over $104 million by 2024 due to fraud. And because of all the fraud, Minnesota had to shut the program down in 2025 and now these services no longer exist for these vulnerable homeless populations.
The same trends exist for other Minnesota-run taxpayer-funded programs. An autism program that cost the taxpayer $600,000 just six years ago skyrocketed to over $400 million. And to be sure that number is not driven by supply and demand, it is not driven by health care or charity, it is fraud.
Assistant AG Colin McDonald: “Today, we are announcing criminal charges against 15 defendants in Minnesota for fraud schemes that targeted over $90 million in taxpayer dollars… This is the beginning of our work in Minnesota. The fraud here in Minnesota is shocking.” pic.twitter.com/5YAj8jz8D0
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 21, 2026
.@SecKennedy: “Investigators uncovered brazen schemes that billed taxpayers for nonexistent services, fraudulent diagnoses, and fake care, while criminals enriched themselves at public expense… When criminals exploit these programs, taxpayers lose billions and vulnerable… https://t.co/OrXiCm0p0q pic.twitter.com/y9vr0shgzp
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 21, 2026
.@DrOzCMS: “We are all up here because we love these programs. Medicaid is the fundamental payer of last resort for our most needy, most vulnerable citizens, and when we’re unable to keep these programs alive because of fraudsters, it hurts all of us deeply — and that’s what… https://t.co/OrXiClZRaS pic.twitter.com/4ghB9a15jy
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 21, 2026