Federal Charges Expand in Minnesota Medicaid Fraud Probe
BY MN CRIME STAFF
Federal prosecutors have expanded a sweeping investigation into Medicaid fraud tied to autism services and housing programs in Minnesota.
Authorities have charged six additional defendants, secured a guilty plea from one previously charged defendant and have unsealed a new search warrant tied to a separate state program.
According to federal court records, the latest cases involve alleged fraud in three state-administered Medicaid programs: the Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention program for children with autism, the Housing Stabilization Services program and the Integrated Community Supports program.
In the autism-related case, Abdinajib Hassan Yussuf, 27 at the time of charging, is charged by federal information with one count of wire fraud. Prosecutors say Yussuf was the president and CEO of Star Autism Center LLC and used the business from late 2020 through December 2024 to defraud Minnesota’s EIDBI program, which provides medically necessary services to people under age 21 diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
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According to the charging documents, Star Autism claimed to provide one-on-one behavioral therapy but instead employed unqualified behavioral technicians, often 18- or 19-year-old relatives with no formal education beyond high school and no autism-specific training or certifications. Prosecutors say Yussuf and others recruited families within the Somali community to enroll children in the program and, in some cases, worked to obtain autism diagnoses for children who did not already have one.
As part of the alleged scheme, Star Autism paid monthly cash kickbacks to parents who enrolled their children, with payment amounts tied to the level of services authorized by the Minnesota Department of Human Services. Investigators say millions of dollars in Medicaid claims were inflated, billed without providers’ knowledge or submitted for services that were not actually provided, with kickback payments financed through those fraudulent billings.
Prosecutors allege Star Autism obtained more than $6 million in EIDBI reimbursement funds from DHS and UCare. According to court records, Yussuf shared in the proceeds with other owners and investors and used fraud proceeds for personal purchases, including more than $100,000 toward a Freightliner semi-truck. Authorities also allege he sent more than $200,000 in fraud proceeds to Kenya.
A related defendant, Asha Farhan Hassan, age 28, pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of wire fraud. Prosecutors say Hassan was charged for her role in a broader $14 million autism fraud scheme and was also charged in the Feeding Our Future case, where she allegedly received $465,000. She will be sentenced at a later date.
Federal authorities have also brought new charges connected to Minnesota’s Housing Stabilization Services program, a Medicaid benefit launched in July 2020 to help people with disabilities, mental illness or substance use disorders find and maintain housing. The program was designed with low barriers to entry and minimal documentation requirements, which prosecutors say made it vulnerable to fraud. While DHS initially projected annual costs of about $2.6 million, actual spending grew sharply, exceeding $21 million in 2021 and reaching more than $104 million in 2024. Another $61 million was paid out during the first six months of 2025 alone.
Anthony Waddell Jefferson, 37, and Lester Brown, 53, both of Philadelphia, are charged by federal information with one count of wire fraud each. Prosecutors allege the two registered Minnesota-based companies and became HSS providers despite having no legitimate ties to the state. According to court filings, they traveled repeatedly to Minneapolis to recruit beneficiaries from shelters and Section 8 housing sites while marketing themselves as “The Housing Guys.”
Investigators allege Jefferson directed employees to create fake client notes, sometimes using invented employee names, while Brown failed to keep required documentation and later fabricated records when insurers requested them. Prosecutors say Jefferson and Brown submitted about $3.5 million in claims for services purportedly provided to roughly 230 beneficiaries.
In a separate HSS case, Hassan Ahmed Hussein, 28, and Ahmed Abdirashid Mohamed, 27, are charged by federal indictment with one count of wire fraud each. Prosecutors allege the two owned and operated Pristine Health LLC in Saint Paul and registered the company as an HSS provider. According to the indictment, Hussein and Mohamed submitted false claims that significantly overstated the services provided and worked with another provider, Foundation First, to fabricate Housing Focused Plans.
Court records state they also used a third-party entity referred to as Company 1 to obtain beneficiary names to increase billing. Prosecutors allege Pristine claimed entitlement to about $750,000 while providing only a fraction of the services billed, with fraud proceeds spent on personal travel to destinations including London, Sydney, Dubai, Istanbul and multiple locations in Saudi Arabia.
Another HSS defendant, Kaamil Omar Sallah, 26, is charged by indictment with four counts of wire fraud. Prosecutors allege Sallah owned and operated SafeLodgings Inc. and submitted inflated claims that included double billing, sometimes claiming a single employee provided services to multiple beneficiaries during the same hour. In 2024 alone, authorities say Sallah claimed to have personally provided more than 3,600 billable service hours.
Prosecutors allege Sallah fraudulently claimed about $1.4 million and received nearly $1.3 million before diverting proceeds to associates and investments, including nearly $150,000 in cryptocurrency. After being served with a grand jury subpoena in November 2025, Sallah retained counsel and then left the country. Court records state he flew from Minneapolis–Saint Paul to Amsterdam around Nov. 26 and has not returned to the United States.
The investigation has also expanded to Minnesota’s Integrated Community Supports program, another Medicaid benefit launched in 2021 to provide daily one-on-one assistance to people living independently in the community. A federal court has unsealed a search warrant for Ultimate Home Health Services LLC, which participated in the program.
According to the search warrant affidavit, Ultimate Home Health Services submitted more than $1.1 million in claims for services provided to 13 clients between approximately June 2024 and August 2025. Investigators allege the company billed Medicaid for services that were not provided as claimed, including records showing one individual receiving services on all but four days over a 447-day period.
The affidavit also describes a client with severe mental illness who was found dead in his apartment while allegedly receiving twelve hours of daily ICS care. DHS records show the individual was enrolled with Ultimate Home Health Services at the time of his death, though the individual’s mother told investigators she did not observe care being provided at the level billed.
The cases are being investigated by the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
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