The New York Times reports that a federal investigation of fraud in Minnesota’s social programs “has broadened significantly.” Federal prosecutors now say they are “investigating suspicious billing practices in 14 Medicaid-funded programs.” Previously, the investigation had been limited to “three safety net programs run by state agencies.”
“What we see in Minnesota is not a handful of bad actors committing crimes,” said Joseph Thompson, the federal prosecutor running the investigation. “It is staggering industrial-scale fraud.”
The Times reports that a
preliminary assessment suggests that more than half of the $18 billion in taxpayer funds spent on the 14 programs and intended to help low-income, vulnerable people since 2018 was most likely stolen…Prosecutors described the expansion of their investigation as they announced charges against six new people, accusing them of defrauding safety net programs. That brought to 92 the number of people charged in a years-long fraud investigation that has roiled state politics in Minnesota and has drawn the attention of the White House. So far, at least 60 people have been convicted. Others are awaiting trial or have fled the country.
The new defendants included two men from Philadelphia who engaged in what Mr. Thompson called “fraud tourism.” He said they had been drawn to the state “because they knew and understood that Minnesota was a place where taxpayer money can be taken with little risk and few consequences.”…on Thursday, F.B.I. agents searched a business in a Minneapolis suburb that the authorities say had billed the state more than $1.1 million as part of a program designed to support for disabled adults….
In recent weeks, as reports of the fraud caught the attention of the White House, the Trump administration announced a crackdown on illegal immigration in the state…The vast majority of the people charged in the fraud cases to date are of Somali origin. Most are United States citizens by birth or naturalization.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, says the Walz administration turned a blind eye to widespread fraud out of fear of offending Somali American voters: “Somali scammers get rich off the programs Governor Walz was supposed to be managing,” Dr. Oz said. “Minnesota politicians get elected with Somali votes and keep the money flowing.”
