Criminal Justice
Alleging millions in fraud involving Medicaid and other programs, DOJ charges 15 individuals
Colin McDonald, assistant attorney general for the National Fraud Enforcement Division, speaking Thursday about charging 15 people with fraud. The charges involve Medicaid and other social services programs. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)
The Justice Department on Thursday announced criminal charges against 15 individuals accused of stealing more than $90 million from Minnesota Medicaid and other taxpayer-funded social service programs.
Federal prosecutors accused seven Minnesota-managed Medicaid programs of schemes involving fake diagnoses, money laundering, kickbacks and fraudulent billing. The defendants include an owner and an employee of autism clinics. They are charged with submitting $46.6 million in fraudulent claims to Medicaid.
Other defendants are charged with filing fake claims to Medicaid for other services, including those that help disabled people get housing and live independently, according to a report by the New York Times.
Thursday’s announcement followed months of complaints from President Donald Trump about alleged rampant mass fraud in Minnesota. The fraud accusations were initially fueled by a video from Nick Shirley, a social media influencer who focused on a children’s daycare center that he said received large sums in state and federal assistance, according to a report by The Guardian. The YouTuber videotaped his daycare center visits, and an employee claimed he arrived outside of business hours, Newsweek reported in December.
“Today, we are holding scammers accountable who ripped off the American taxpayer and harmed those deserving legitimate assistance from these programs,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement. “These alleged con artists stole taxpayer dollars while providing substandard care for children and abandoning at least one Medicaid recipient as they passed away.”
The new charges coincided with the sentencing on Thursday of Aimee Bock, whom prosecutors accuse of masterminding a fraud scheme related to the Covid-era meals program in Minnesota. Judge Nancy E. Brasel sentenced her to more than 41 years. Prosecutors had argued for a 50-year prison term, describing her as “stealing funds intended to feed children is a profound breach of trust that demands accountability.”
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