2 Minnesota Autism Therapy Providers Charged in $46 Million Medicaid Fraud Case

The Justice Department announced charges on Thursday against 15 people for attempting to defraud Minnesota Medicaid and other social service programs in the state of more than $90 million.

Top officials, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health and human services secretary, and Mehmet Oz, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, appeared in Minneapolis to announce the charges. “The fraud here in Minnesota is shocking,” said Colin McDonald, an assistant attorney general overseeing the administration’s crackdown on fraud.

Among the defendants are an owner and an employee of autism clinics, who are charged with submitting $46.6 million in fraudulent claims to Medicaid, the public health plan that covers low-income people. Additional defendants were charged with filing bogus claims to Medicaid for other services, including those that assist disabled people with obtaining housing and living independently.

Some of the defendants did not respond to messages requesting comment. Others could not be reached.

President Trump focused attention on fraud in Minnesota after news reports and a social media video from a conservative content creator last year. Administration officials cited fraud among the reasons for sending hundreds of federal agents to Minnesota to crack down on illegal immigration.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/21/us/politics/medicaid-fraud-minnesota-autism.html