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FBI raids MN autism treatment centers
FBI agents raided autism treatment centers in Minneapolis and St. Cloud Thursday morning. The raids could be part of a broader investigation, with search warrants indicating that the raids are part of an investigation into possible Medicaid fraud.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Federal prosecutors have filed the first charges in a fraud scheme that targeted a Minnesota health care program that helps people on the autism spectrum, a scheme that was uncovered during the investigation into the massive Feeding Our Future fraud case.
Woman charged in autism program fraud
What we know:
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Minnesota has filed wire fraud charges against 28-year-old Asha Farhan Hassan for her role in a $14 million fraud scheme that targeted the Minnesota Department of Human Services' Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention.
The program is designed to provide support for people under the age of 21 on the autism spectrum. Prosecutors say Hassan claimed to provide one-on-one services through her company Smart Therapy LLC. The company was registered in 2019 through the state.
However, prosecutors say Hassan hired unqualified individuals, often teen relatives with no formal education beyond high school, and recruited children through the Somali community, some of whom weren't on the autism spectrum. To drive up recruitment, prosecutors say Hassan paid out kickbacks to parents ranging between $300 to $1,500 per month. In return, Hassan billed Medicaid for millions of dollars in reimbursement.
By the numbers:
Through the scheme, prosecutors say Smart Therapy was paid more than $14 million through the Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention program from Minnesota DHS and UCare. The proceeds were split between Hassan and her partners, prosecutors say. Authorities say Hassan sent hundreds of thousands of dollars across seas, some of which was used to purchase property in Kenya.
What they're saying:
"Today’s charges mark the first in the ongoing investigation into fraud in the EIDBI Autism Program," said Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson in a provided statement. "To be clear, this is not an isolated scheme. From Feeding Our Future to Housing Stabilization Services and now Autism Services, these massive fraud schemes form a web that has stolen billions of dollars in taxpayer money. Each case we bring exposes another strand of this network. The challenge is immense, but our work continues."
What they're saying:
In a statement, temporary Human Services Commissioner Shireen Gandhi said: "The sophisticated, coordinated web of fraud schemes we are uncovering requires an equally sophisticated, coordinated response from DHS and our law enforcement partners. The U.S. Attorney’s Office indictment today is a critical part of our fight against fraud, and it serves as another crystal-clear warning to criminals.
"Increased investigatory oversight from the DHS Office of Inspector General has been and continues to be an essential factor in the discovery of complex fraud schemes. DHS is taking multiple actions to stop fraud, including stopping payments, designating services as high-risk, bolstering data analytics and establishing licensure."
Feeding Our Future connections
The other side:
Along with autism program charges, Hassan is also now facing charges related to the Feeding Our Future case.
Authorities say Hassan used the Smart Therapy company to enroll in the Federal Child Nutrition Program under Feeding Our Future. When she enrolled in 2020, prosecutors say Hassan falsely claimed to serve meals to 300 children per day, seven days a week. By 2021, the number had increased to 1,200 meals per day. Between 2020 and 2021, Hassan claimed to have served 200,000 meals, and sought $465,000 from the federal program.
Prosecutors say Hassan submitted fake meal counts, attendance rosters, and invoices for the fraud.
The backstory:
The investigation into fraud targeting the Minnesota Department of Health's Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention has been ongoing for some time. FOX 9 reported in late 2024 when autism centers, including Smart Therapy, were raided by the FBI.
When federal prosecutors announced charges in a fraud scheme targeting a Department of Human Services housing program, they said the autism program case was coming down the pike.
"As many of you know, Minnesota is drowning in fraud," said Thompson. "These programs have been abused over and over to the point where the fraud has overtaken the legitimate services. I've been prosecuting these cases for years, and I've literally run out of ways to express what is happening in our state and on our state programs, and to explain the coming iceberg I see, as we reckon with fraud. We can and will prosecute many of these individuals as we have been, but we cannot prosecute our way out of this problem. We must do more at the front end to stop the outflow of money."
Dig deeper:
Thompson later explained the housing and autism program fraud cases were discovered as investigators delved into the Feeding Our Future case.
"I think it's fair to say that most of these health care fraud investigations, including the autism one, essentially grew out of the Feeding Our Future investigations, through which we saw bank records routinely where people were, purporting to serve meals to thousands of kids a day," Thompson explained. "They were also purporting to run an autism clinic or a PCA services program or home health care. And so we just went down that rabbit hole of looking at bank records and looking into these individual companies."