WASHINGTON — The Trump administration announced criminal charges Thursday against 15 alleged fraudsters accused of bilking taxpayers out of $90 million courtesy of Minnesota’s state-run Medicaid programs — including what prosecutors called the “largest autism fraud scheme ever.”
The busts also involved the “highest loss amount ever charged in a Medicaid case,” Assistant Attorney General for the National Fraud Enforcement Division Colin McDonald told reporters in Minneapolis, noting that the total sum stolen statewide in taxpayer-funded programs would likely top $9 billion.
Seven state-managed Medicaid programs were targeted — and one of the defendants, Muhammad Omar, was on the lam after evading the feds earlier Thursday by leaping off a fourth-story balcony, officials said.
After a public plea to locate the hobbling suspect, FBI Director Kash Patel announced hours later that Omar has been nabbed.
Omar is accused of scheming taxpayers out of more than $3.6 million by filing false Medicaid claims while running a pair of home health care companies in Minnesota from 2022 to 2025, according to the indictment.
He used $150,000 of the “fraudulently obtained” funds to invest in real estate in Nairobi, Kenya, and $60,000 to lease a Mercedes-Benz, feds allege.
Two defendants — Shamso Ahmed Hassan and Hanaan Mursal Yusuf — allegedly operated a $46.6 million scheme that paid kickbacks to parents who brought their children to the bogus centers supposedly treating autism spectrum disorder.
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Their Smart Therapy Center and Star Autism Center had billed Minnesota Medicaid’s Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention (EIDBI) Program for Medicaid services that were not, in fact, reimbursable, according to the DOJ.
Two other defendants, Charles Healey and Katherin Larsen-Guthmiller, are accused of perpetrating a $22.7 million fraud and money laundering scheme while claiming to provide home support services for people with brain injuries seeking to live independently.
One Philadelphia-based defendant, Deborah Hodges, allegedly submitted $5.3 million in fraudulent claims to Minnesota’s Housing Stabilization Services (HSS) Program.
Another, Fahima Mahamud, was indicted for wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud the US for allegedly pilfering $5.4 million in federal funding while operating a fake child care center, Future Leaders Early Learning, in Minneapolis.
Still other Minnesota defendants like Ahmed Kadar allegedly laundered $400,000 in funds and defrauded Medicaid out of $1 million by inflating hours for purported services to disabled persons.
“One patient was supposed to be receiving 24-hour care … but he was actually being serviced by a fraudster and received no services,” McDonald noted. “This patient was later found dead.”
Some of the fraudsters’ ill-gotten proceeds were spent on luxury real estate, vehicles, and expensive jewelry, McDonald said.
“My message to the fraudsters is this: Eat, drink, and be merry today because your days of frolicking and freedom are numbered,” he declared.
The FBI asked the public’s help to find Omar, the balcony jumper who evaded federal agents Thursday morning.
Footage from the scene showed Omar hopping along the grounds on one foot while holding a shoe in his hand.
“After today’s interagency press conference announcing 15 public healthcare fraud indictments in Minnesota, the below subject who was on the run – Muhammad Omar – has now been arrested,” Patel said Thursday evening.
McDonald, the so-called “fraud czar,” said investigators were tipped off to widespread scam after Medicaid billing amounts from Minnesota’s housing stabilization services and autism programs skyrocketed into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
“One of the programs has been completely shut down because there’s no money left: It’s all gone,” McDonald said, referring to Minnesota’s Housing Stabilization Services Program, which closed Oct. 31, 2025.
That program had increased from more than $26 million in payments in 2021 to more than $104 million in 2024.
Minnesota’s Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention (EIDBI) program surged from more than $600,000 in 2018 to more $400 million by 2025, the feds said.
The state’s Integrated Community Supports (ICS) program rose from around $4.2 million in 2021 to more than $183 million by 2025.
The Individualized Home Supports (IHS) program doled out more than $100 million in 2018, but spiked to more than $700 million by 2025.
Ex-Minnesota US Attorney Joe Thompson in December had announced that total fraud in the state from federal benefit programs could exceed $9 billion.
Asked about the figure during Thursday’s news conference, McDonald replied, “I wouldn’t be surprised if that number is accurate or even small.”
“At the end of all of our work, we’ll tally it all up, and we’ll tell you exactly how much was stolen from the American people.”
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz announced that $350 million in federal reimbursements for the Minnesota programs have been deferred.
“Investigators uncovered brazen schemes that billed taxpayers for nonexistent services, fraudulent diagnoses, and fake care, while criminals enriched themselves at public expense,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“When criminals exploit these programs, taxpayers lose billions and vulnerable children lose their access to care.”
