Four charged in Minnesota over alleged $41 million taxpayer fraud scheme

Four people in Minnesota are facing criminal charges over an alleged fraud scheme targeting thousands of Americans and involving more than $41 million dollars in taxpayer funds.

FBI Director Kash Patel said the indictment contains 26 counts, with investigators executing 17 search warrants at childcare centres, healthcare facilities and the suspects’ homes.

The suspects were identified as Feisal Elmi of Aspen Associates, Jama Mohamod of American Home Health Care, Faiza Ahmed of Home Sweet Home and Habiba Mohamed of Smart Therapy.

Elmi faces 11 counts of healthcare fraud involving an alleged intended loss of $8 million, while Mohamod faces six counts involving $3.27 million.

Ahmed faces eight counts involving $10 million dollars, while Mohamed is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States in a case involving nearly $20 million.

During the briefing, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration had stopped $175 million in payments linked to fraud and returned more than $100 million to Americans who lost money in overseas scams over the past year.

Bessent also said the Treasury Department audited $9 billion in government contracts, uncovering more than $260 billion in fraud overall.

Meanwhile, Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz announced that a federal jury in St Paul had convicted 45-year-old Sharmaine Meadows of stealing 3.6 million dollars from Minnesota’s now-defunct Medicaid Housing Stabilization Services programme.