2 Philly men defrauded Minnesota aid programs after hearing state was "good opportunity," new charges allege
Federal prosecutors announced new indictments Thursday in the widening Minnesota fraud scandal, this time involving two Philadelphia-based men accused of traveling to Minneapolis after a friend told them the taxpayer-funded programs there presented "a good opportunity to make money."
"Minnesota has become a magnet for fraud, so much so that we have developed a fraud tourism industry – people coming to our state purely to exploit and defraud its programs," said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson, who brought the new charges. "This is a deeply unsettling reality that all Minnesotans should understand."
The two men, Anthony Waddel Jefferson and Lester Brown, were accused of siphoning millions from federally funded programs administered by Minnesota officials that were meant to help the disabled and those suffering from addiction, according to court filings.
Unlike previous individuals caught up in the sprawling fraud dragnet, they don't appear to be tied to Minnesota's large Somali-American community.
Court filings allege the men submitted up to $3.5 million in "fake and inflated bills" for Medicaid reimbursements after they set up a company intended to provide housing and other services to individuals who qualified for the program.
They allegedly fleeced the housing program in Minnesota despite "living on the other side of the country and having no network in or connections to Minnesota or its communities," the filings stated.
Thursday's indictments alleged that one man registered a company to help channel state resources to the families of children with autism. But the man, Abdinajib Hassan Yussef, allegedly spent some of the $6 million he took from the program on the purchase of a Freightliner semi-truck.
Federal prosecutors have been looking into large-scale fraud in several Minnesota programs ever since dozens were indicted and convicted starting in 2022 in the Feeding Our Future scandal, which saw the theft of $250 million in taxpayer funds meant to feed children in need.
The number of convictions is now up to 62 after one defendant pleaded guilty on Thursday morning. The three new indictments now bring the total number charged in fraud to 90.
Below is an overview of three of the state's other high-profile fraud controversies.
Feeding Our Future
The U.S. Attorney's Office says the Minnesota-based nonprofit Feeding Our Future was behind what's considered the largest COVID-related fraud case of its kind in the U.S.
The nonprofit partnered with the state's Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to distribute meals, but federal prosecutors say the group submitted fake meal count sheets and invoices claiming they helped feed thousands, making millions of dollars in administrative fees and taking kickbacks from meal distribution sites, according to court documents.
CBS News obtained dozens of trial exhibits, revealing the luxury vacations, high-end cars and overseas transfers by the defendants.
"What we can say from that enormous volume of evidence is that the predominant motive of all of these individuals was their self-enrichment and their self-indulgence," said U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen. "And that's where they spent the money overwhelmingly."
The majority of those charged and convicted in the Feeding Our Future scheme are of Somali descent. The nonprofit's founder, Aimee Bock, is White. Bock was convicted for her role back in March.
In recent weeks, President Trump, other Republican politicians and conservative media outlets have alleged Minnesota's Democratic establishment — with Gov. Tim Walz as the prime focus — was bullied into inaction by the nonprofit, which contracted within the state's Somali community. Critics claim Bock successfully shut down early scrutiny by dubbing it as racially motivated.
Mr. Trump has claimed Somali migrants "ripped off" Minnesota and has referred to the state as a "hellhole." He has called people from Somalia "garbage" who "contribute nothing" and said: "I don't want them in our country, I'll be honest with you." The U.S. Department of the Treasury says it is also investigating whether money was funneled to the Somali terror group al-Shabaab.
Earlier this month, Immigration and Customs Enforcement ramped up its presence in the Twin Cities in what is dubbed Operation Metro Surge. The Twin Cities are home to the majority of Minnesota's 100,000-plus Somali population, according to census data. The state has the nation's largest Somali population.
Housing Stabilization Services
Federal prosecutors have also charged nearly a dozen more people in cases involving other alleged COVID-related fraud in the state involving housing assistance and behavioral health services.
In September, Thompson announced that, alongside the Feeding Our Future case, fraud connected to the state's Housing Stabilization Services and autism services "has stolen billions of dollars in taxpayer money."
Housing Stabilization Services is a Medicaid program started in 2020 that aimed to help people with disabilities and addictions find and maintain housing. The program was under the umbrella of the Minnesota Department of Human Services and has previously been accused of being the target of widespread fraud.
In July, the state paused payments to 50 housing stabilization providers connected to the program. Eight people have been charged so far with allegedly taking millions of dollars.
Autism services
In late 2024, two Minnesota autism treatment centers were accused of submitting fraudulent claims for services that were never provided. A 28-year-old woman now faces several federal wire fraud charges tied to the $14 million scheme
In October, Walz announced a third party will audit billing for 14 Medicaid services deemed to be "high risk" for fraud, and an official at the state Department of Human Services told WCCO the inspector general's office is currently reviewing more than 1,300 reported cases of fraud in those programs — and has recovered some $50 million.
Last week, Walz unveiled a new statewide fraud prevention program led by Tim O'Malley, a former FBI agent who previously led the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and was chief judge on the state's Court of Administrative Hearings.
This story will be updated.