Charges were brought this week by federal prosecutors against 15 individuals in Minneapolis, with Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald announcing the defendants are accused of stealing more than $90 million from Minnesota social service programs.
Seven state-managed programs were targeted in the schemes, among them Medicaid, child care assistance, and child nutrition programs, CBS News reported. McDonald said the defendants "treated Minnesota-run programs as their personal piggybank," according to CNN.
Among the most significant allegations are charges against two operators of autism therapy clinics accused of submitting $46.6 million in fraudulent Medicaid claims, according to The New York Times. According to prosecutors, the two defendants funneled payments of up to $1,500 monthly per child to families as incentives to enroll in the program and obtain autism diagnoses, submitting Medicaid claims for therapy sessions that never took place. McDonald called the case the "largest autism fraud scheme ever charged by the Department of Justice," according to CNN.
Among the additional counts, an indictment accuses group home operators in rural Minnesota of diverting more than $1 million in Medicaid payments for personal spending, with seven luxury vehicles among the purchases; separately, two defendants who provided housing services to vulnerable people are accused of padding their Medicaid claims with fictitious service hours, according to the Los Angeles Times.
