Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald Announces Minnesota Medicaid Fraud Takedown

Good morning to you all. My name is Colin McDonald, Assistant Attorney General for the National Fraud Enforcement Division at the Department of Justice. I am joined today by a lineup of committed public servants who are devoted to protecting the financial security of America.

Today, we are announcing criminal charges against 15 defendants in Minnesota for fraud schemes that targeted over 90 million in taxpayer dollars.

Let me be clear up front about something: this is not the end of our work in Minnesota; this is not the end of the beginning of our work in Minnesota; this is the beginning of our work in Minnesota.

The fraud here in Minnesota is shocking. Our cases today involve seven different state-managed Medicaid programs that have been systematically pilfered by fraudsters who treated Minnesota-run programs as their personal piggy bank.

One of the programs has been completely shut down because there’s no money left, it’s all gone. That was Minnesota’s state-run Housing Stabilization Services program, designed to help the homeless find and maintain housing. It was estimated in 2020 that it would cost only about $2.5 million a year to fund this program, but it ended up costing almost 50 times that much – over $104 million by 2024 – due to fraud. And because of all the fraud, Minnesota had to shut the program down in 2025, and now these services no longer exist for these vulnerable homeless populations.

The same trends exist for other Minnesota-run taxpayer-funded programs: an autism program that cost the taxpayer $600,000 just 6 years ago skyrocketed to over $400 million. And to be sure, that number is not driven by supply and demand; it is not driven by health care or charity—it is fraud.

To tackle this crisis, and it is a crisis, in Minnesota, earlier this year the Department of Justice surged eleven Strike Force prosecutors from across the country to be here on the ground fighting the rampant fraud targeting our taxpayer-funded programs. And large numbers of agents from our partners at the FBI, HHS-OIG, HSI, IRS-CI, and others, joined our prosecutors to rapidly unmask fraudulent actors in Minnesota.

These agents and prosecutors have been working around the clock to root out the criminals stealing taxpayer dollars, and I am proud of all they accomplished in such a short time.  Their hard work made today possible.

Make no mistake: Today’s charges are unprecedented. They include the highest loss amount ever charged in a Medicaid case in Minnesota; and the largest autism fraud scheme ever charged by the Department of Justice.

The common theme throughout these cases is fraudsters exploiting vulnerable programs and vulnerable people to enrich themselves—no matter the consequences to the programs or to the people.

For example, one defendant is charged with defrauding the Integrated Community Supports Medicaid program. This program is designed to help individuals with disabilities live independently. One patient was supposed to be receiving 24-hour care through this program—but he was actually being serviced by a fraudster, and received no services. This patient was later found dead. Meanwhile, the architect of this fraud scheme was billing Medicaid as if he was providing care to this patient. The defendant even submitted a claim of over $400 for services he never provided the day before this man died.

In another example, two defendants have been charged for defrauding a program designed to offer medical services to those with autism spectrum disorder. As alleged, the defendants paid kickbacks to parents who brought their children to autism centers, diagnosed children with autism regardless of medical necessity, and billed for autism services that were never actually provided.

In one final example, two defendants have been charged in an over $22 million fraud scheme involving the Individualized Home Supports program. This program was meant to support disabled individuals who wanted to live in their own homes. Instead, these disabled individuals were used like lottery tickets by these defendants to generate millions of dollars, which these defendants used to expand their real estate holdings, purchase luxury vehicles, and splurge on expensive jewelry.

We will not—full stop—tolerate this greed and deceit. We will not let fraudsters bankrupt Medicare and Medicaid the same way that they bankrupted the Housing Stabilization Services program.

As mentioned, this is just the beginning.  With the support of President Trump, Vice President Vance, Acting Attorney General Blanche, Chairman Ferguson and the White House Anti-Fraud Task Force, Secretary Kennedy, Dr. Oz and his team, and the entire federal fraud-fighting apparatus, the Department of Justice will continue expanding our reach across the country to pursue all fraud, no matter how large, no matter how small, no matter how hard.

Since April 1st, DOJ’s Fraud Division has announced over 450 fraud enforcement actions nationwide. Representing billions of taxpayer dollars. And this week already, we’re delivering results coast-to-coast, with a trial conviction in Brooklyn involving a $40 million drug distribution and fraud scheme, and a trial conviction in Los Angeles involving a $40 million Botox injection fraud scheme.

To continue to expand our reach, we are announcing today the expansion of the Health Care Fraud Midwest Strike Force to Minnesota and the hiring of 15 additional prosecutors dedicated to combating Medicaid fraud nationwide.  These additional resources will ensure that the DOJ’s Fraud Division will be better equipped to stop fraud and hold criminals accountable.

My message to the Minnesota community—and to all of America—is this: if you see something that seems too good to be true, tell us. In some areas, such as in the day care prosecutions we announced today, a culture of fraud has taken root, where child-care centers even offer kickbacks to parents to enroll their children. If something sounds too good to be true, it is. Do the right thing. Speak out. Help us win the fight against fraud.

And now, my message to the fraudsters is this: eat, drink, and be merry today—because your days of frolicking and freedom are numbered. We are doing everything we can to find you. And when we do, we will prosecute you. And we will claw back every dollar you have stolen from the American people. 

We will not rest until every fraudster knows that the cost of stealing from the American people is far higher than any scheme is worth. 

Thank you all for being here. I’ll now turn the podium over to Secretary Kennedy.