DOJ unveils ‘largest autism fraud scheme’ tied to $90 million Minnesota Medicaid theft

The Justice Department on Thursday announced criminal charges against 15 defendants accused of stealing more than $90 million from Minnesota Medicaid and other taxpayer-funded social service programs in what officials described as the “largest autism fraud scheme” ever uncovered by the department.

Federal prosecutors said the cases span seven separate Minnesota-managed Medicaid programs that were allegedly exploited through fake diagnoses, kickback schemes, fraudulent billing, and nonexistent care for vulnerable children and disabled adults.

“These defendants treated Minnesota-run programs as their personal piggy bank,” said Colin McDonald, assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s National Fraud Enforcement Division. “The fraud here in Minnesota is shocking.”

At the center of the case are two autism clinics, Smart Therapy in Minneapolis and Star Autism in St. Cloud. Prosecutors allege defendants Shamso Ahmed Hassan and Hanaan Mursal Yusuf fraudulently billed Medicaid more than $46 million for autism services that were either medically unnecessary or never provided.

According