(Image courtesy of KARE11)
Over the summer I wrote about the grand scale of the latest stage of Somali welfare fraud in Minnesota.
The $250 million ‘Feeding Our Future’ free food fraud in which Somali groups stole a quarter of a billion dollars while claiming to feed hundreds of thousands of children who never existed seemed like the biggest case of welfare fraud in Minnesota, but it may be just the beginning.
In 2019, Feeding Our Future distributed $3.4 million in taxpayer food aid funds to the non-profits it was sponsoring, In 2020, that shot up to $42 million and then up to $197 million in 2021.
EIDBI autism claims to Medicaid in Minnesota similarly shot up from $3 million in 2018 to $54 million in 2019, $77 million in 2020, $183 million in 2021, $279 million in 2022, $399 million in 2023, and nearing $400 million most of the way through 2024 for a total of over $1.4 billion.
How did autism claims rise from $3 million to $400 million a year in just 4 years?
The number of autism providers shot up 700% from 41 to 328 over 5 years. 1 in 16 Somali four-year-olds (6%) were supposedly suffering from autism leading to a mass demand for services.
Now after the food and autism frauds, the first batch of arrests is underway in Somali housing fraud.
Federal prosecutors on Thursday charged eight people in connection with what they called a “massive” fraud scheme in Minnesota’s Medicaid-funded housing stabilization program.
Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson said it was the first wave of cases and that his office was investigating hundreds of companies. He described fraud in the state as a widespread “crisis.”
“As many of you know, Minnesota is drowning in fraud,” he said at a news conference announcing the charges. “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.”
The individuals charged with wire fraud in four separate cases are accused of stealing federally funded health care benefits from the state intended for housing. They stole a total of around $10 million, prosecutors allege. That’s nearly four times the amount the state expected to spend on the program annually when it first launched.
The state initially expected the housing stabilization program to cost about $2.6 million a year, but last year it cost $105.4 million, according to DHS. The program has around 21,000 participants and more than 1,800 providers.
This is what drowning looks like.
Who might have been involved in “drowning” the state in fraud?
“From about April 2023 through about May 2025, each of the defendants personally pocketed between about $300,000 and $400,000 from Brilliant Minds,” according to a news release on the fraud cases. “The defendants also shared a Platinum American Express credit card, on which they accrued nearly half a million dollars in charges to fund and enhance their lifestyles.”
Defendants Moktar Hassan Aden, 30, Mustafa Dayib Ali, 29, Khalid Ahmed Dayib, 26, and Abdifitah Mohamud Mohamed, 27, are charged in connection with Brilliant Minds.
Asad Ahmed Adow, 26, operated a company called Leo Human Services LLC, a company that received about $2.7 million and claimed 250 beneficiaries.
Anwar Ahmed Adow, 25, is charged in connection with a company called Liberty Plus LLC in Roseville. His company received $1.2 million to provide housing for 200 people.
Thompson said the federal investigation grew out of the $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud case, which has “significant” overlap with the housing services case. Seventy-five people have been charged in that case and more than 50 have been 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.
Here’s how Mohammed took advantage of Americans.
This echoes claims made to KARE 11 Investigates by Brilliant Minds client Rachel Lien, who said the company billed her insurance more than $2,000 when all she got was a Shark vacuum. She said the company never helped her find housing.
Even after a Brilliant Minds employee named “Mohamed” visited her home in March to drop off the vacuum, KARE 11 analyzed billing records to discover that Brilliant Minds continued to submit Medicaid claims for additional house-hunting. In a session documented by Brilliant Minds in April, the author describes Rachel’s housing coordinator taking trips to look at properties that fit her wishlist. “I visited these properties, I went in person on Rachel’s behalf because these two options were strong matches for her housing criteria.”
She said the man she spoke to on the phone with Liberty Plus promised to help her find housing, but then provided virtually no follow-up. Julie and her dog spent that winter barely surviving, living out of her car. She also accused the company of signing her name on documents which would enable them to bill Medicaid.
One client, Steven Smith, said he never met with the company and never signed any documents. However, records provided by Leo Human Services and shared with KARE 11 Investigates, show Steven’s name appeared on housing consultation documents.
“I did not sign this legal document,” he said, pointing out inaccuracies, including that the document listed his name incorrectly as “Steven Jr Smith.”
“Why would I say that I’m Steven Jr Smith?” He asked. “My middle name is actually Steven Dwayne Smith.”
KARE 11 extracted metadata from the PDF document that revealed that Smith’s signature, dated 08/28/23, was actually created the following day, 08/29/23, and authored by someone named Wats Hanin. It’s still unknown who “Wats Hanin” is.
The Somalis exploited poor and needy Americans and got rich doing it.
The affidavit alleges another client, Latasha, said she was outright denied services by Leo – but records show the company billed over $38,000 in her name, logging dozens of hours spent supposedly helping her find a job. Job listings included a police intern, ice-skating instructor, and softball umpire, all of which Latasha claims to be unsuited for, and others that required a professional degree or license she did not have.
Investigators say AI appears to have been used to propel the alleged scheme, pointing to multiple service records that used identical language and appeared to be copied and pasted by the company.
Ben Gutoski and his wife Haley told KARE 11, they turned to Pristine Health for help finding housing after completing treatment for substance use disorder at NUWAY in the fall of 2024. They wanted stable housing and to rebuild their lives for their 7-year-old daughter. Instead, Ben and Haley say they were basically ghosted by the company.
Still, Ben’s records show his Medicaid was billed for more than 90 hours of service in seven months by Pristine – totaling $6,318.
Taxpayers were also on the hook for thousands of dollars more, as Haley’s insurance records revealed Pristine billed separately to help her find housing, although she and her husband Ben live under one roof.
Gov. Tim Walz and other Democrats let this massive fraud go on as they catered to their Somali supporters. Over $1B is gone and we’re only scratching the surface of this piracy.
