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Federal officials to visit St. Cloud for fraud update
Vice President JD Vance canceled a planned trip to St. Cloud, Minnesota, where he was expected to hold a news conference on fraud. The White House says other federal officials will make the trip to announce developments in the Trump administration’s "war on fraud."
ST. CLOUD, Minn. (FOX 9) - A planned fraud announcement in St. Cloud is moving forward Friday afternoon with several Trump administration officials after Vice President JD Vance canceled his appearance.
Federal officials to make fraud announcement
What we know:
The White House announced Thursday that Vance would visit St. Cloud on Friday as part of the administration's "War on Fraud" initiative.
However, Vance canceled his appearance Thursday evening, and the announcement is now expected to move forward with other administration officials.
According to officials, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, FBI Director Kash Patel, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz and Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson are scheduled to appear in St. Cloud Friday.
What we don't know:
The administration has not released specific details about what will be announced.
White House officials have not said why Vance's visit was canceled. President Donald Trump also canceled scheduled appearances in Kansas and Iowa this weekend.
What's next:
The press conference is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Friday.
Federal raids at Minnesota businesses
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Medicaid fraud investigation: Agents raid 2 Minnesota autism centers
Federal and state authorities raided two Twin Cities autism service providers Thursday as part of fraud investigations, officials say. Ellison’s office identified the businesses as Iska Inc. in St. Louis Park and Bright Horizon Therapy Center in Edina. Both are autism service providers and are under investigation for suspected fraud, the office said. FOX 9's Mike Manzoni has the latest.
Dig deeper:
The announcement comes one day after federal and local law enforcement agencies conducted searches at several Minnesota businesses.
Among the businesses searched Thursday were two autism service providers in the Twin Cities metro, including Iska Inc. in St. Louis Park and Bright Horizon Therapy Center in Edina.
Federal officials described the searches as "court-authorized investigative activity" but did not provide additional details about the investigations.
The agencies involved include the FBI, Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, IRS criminal investigators, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and Minnesota Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
It remains unclear whether Thursday's searches are connected to Friday's fraud announcement in St. Cloud.
READ MORE: Medicaid fraud investigation—what we know about the 2 autism centers involved
The Source: This story uses previous FOX 9 reporting and information from the U.S. Treasury Department.