Guilty plea for 2 defrauding Minnesota’s housing stabilization program

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Two more people have admitted to playing a role in a scheme that defrauded Minnesota’s now-shuttered Housing Stabilization Services program out of millions.

Minnesota housing stabilization fraud

What we know:

Mustafa Dayib and Abdulbasit Ibrahim pleaded guilty on Tuesday to conspiracy to commit health care fraud. They are two of eight total people facing federal charges for their roles in the scheme.

Dig deeper:

Moktar Hassan Aden, 31, of Little Canada, previously pleaded guilty to wire fraud for his part in the same scheme. Prosecutors say Aden’s company, Brilliant Minds Services LLC, was enrolled in the program and claimed to provide $2.25 million in services to about 350 people. Prosecutors have said Aden could face up to 5.25 years in prison.

Prosecutors say the fraud involved billing for services that were never provided, inflating hours and targeting a program designed to help those in need. Brilliant Minds Services LLC to submit inflated and fraudulent bills, and provided only a fraction of the services he claimed.

As part of their pleas, Dayib and Ibrahim admitted to being involved in the scheme that, in total, claimed $2.25 million in services, with few of them being legitimate, according to court documents.

Big picture view:

As widespread fraud has come into focus, Minnesota's Department of Human Services (DHS) ended the program in October after uncovering increased fraud.

The Housing Stabilization Services program was expected to cost about $2.6 million per year before it launched.

In reality, the program paid out more than $21 million in 2021, $42 million in 2022, $74 million in 2023 and $104 million in 2024. In just the first half of 2025, it paid out another $61 million.