The Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged 15 individuals in a massive fraud scheme involving Minnesota's Medicaid programs, with the total fraud amount estimated to be over $90 million. The cases involve seven Minnesota-run Medicaid programs that were allegedly 'systematically pilfered by fraudsters'. The DOJ's National Fraud Enforcement Division has surged 11 strike force prosecutors to Minnesota to help pursue the cases, calling the alleged fraud a 'crisis'. The fraud includes fraudulent autism diagnoses, kickbacks to parents, billing for services that were never provided, and exploiting children as billing opportunities. The Feeding Our Future founder, Aimee Bock, has been sentenced to 41 1/2 years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $243 million in restitution for her role in the fraud scheme. The DOJ has also warned Minnesota fraudsters that their days of 'frolicking and freedom' are numbered, and they will be prosecuted. The cases have raised concerns about government waste and the potential for fraud in social service programs, with House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer accusing Minnesota's top Democratic leaders of enabling the fraud and lying about their knowledge of it.
