What is it with Minneapolis? Is it something in the air? The water? Minneapolis, for whatever reason, is a veritable Fraud-a-Palooza. Now, in the latest in the Twin Cities fraud marathon, two women are under arrest, accused of bilking around $21 million in funds meant for providing autism services for kids.
Two Minnesota fraudsters allegedly swindled more than $21 million in funding earmarked for autism services through two bogus companies and then spent it lavishly on overseas property, officials said.
Shamso Ahmed Hassan, 55, and Hanaan Mursal Yusuf, 25, whose mugshots were released on Wednesday, made off like bandits by submitting millions of dollars in fake claims to Minnesota’s Early Intensive Development and Behavioral Intervention Program [EIDBI] between May 2020 and December 2024, authorities said.
The pair enrolled two companies co-owned by Hassan — Smart Therapy Center LLC and Star Autism Center LLC — as service providers to submit the claims and were secured $21.2 million in funds aimed at helping people, under 21, with autism.
This is a particularly spiteful form of fraud. This money, and bear in mind that there are federal subsidies involved, is supposed to be spent on kids and young adults struggling with autism. Instead, it was spent on goodies for a pair of accused crooks and their families, including... property in Kenya? Could they have been savvy enough to think that they may need a place to escape to?
The swindlers were part of an extensive scheme to use the stolen money on themselves and their families, including buying property in Kenya and a truck.
Hassan and her employee, Yusuf, who live together and are both US citizens, remain in federal custody pending court proceedings, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
This isn't the only game the two were playing.
Hassan is also accused of scamming both adult and child food benefits programs by claiming Smart Therapy was serving 300 children both breakfast and lunch seven days a week, the feds alleged.
By April 2021, Smart Therapy claimed to serve 1,200 meals a day, seven days a week — which Hassan knew was “grossly inflated,” prosecutors said.
Now, the caveat: Like anyone, these two are entitled to due process and a presumption of innocence. So, let that due process happen, and if convicted, make their sentence be the maximum allowed by law, pour encourager les autres.
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The Department of Homeland Security has issued an official press release on the arrest, which includes likely charges:
“These Minnesota residents have been accused of stealing more than $21 million from the American taxpayer,” said Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis. “They now face charges of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, EIGHT counts of health care fraud, and TWO counts of money laundering. Their Medicaid fraud scheme started during the COVID pandemic and lasted for four years. ICE continues to zero in on the rampant fraud in Minnesota. Under Secretary Mullin, we will end the defrauding of the American people.”
The only good thing about this seeming bottomless pit of fraud in Minnesota is that they keep getting caught. That's cold comfort, especially when it seems likely that some of that money has probably already been off-shored and may be hard to get back. But every one that gets caught is a cautionary note for anyone considering this kind of a stunt, not to mention a source of wry satisfaction for every American taxpayer.
Editor’s Note: Help us continue to report the truth about rampant fraud, waste, and abuse of taxpayers' money.
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