Federal prosecutors unveiled sweeping new charges Thursday against 15 defendants in Minnesota, accusing them of looting more than $90 million from taxpayer-funded Medicaid programs in what officials described as a massive new chapter in the state’s sprawling Somali fraud scandal.
The Department of Justice announced the cases during a press conference led by Colin McDonald, assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s National Fraud Enforcement Division, just hours after Feeding Our Future figure Aimee Bock was sentenced to more than 41 years in prison for her role in a separate $250 million pandemic fraud scheme that rocked Minnesota.
Many of the defendants charged in the latest cases are Somali or Somali-American, according to charging documents and court records tied to the investigation.
Federal officials signaled the new indictments are part of a much broader push to crack down on what prosecutors say has become systemic fraud across multiple Minnesota public assistance programs.
“Let me be clear upfront about something: This is not the end of our work in Minnesota,” McDonald said. “This is the beginning of our work in Minnesota. The fraud here in Minnesota is shocking.”
Hellbound and Down 