Authorities have reported that a Somali man in Minnesota defrauded the state’s Medicaid autism care program, stealing millions and allegedly sending the money back to Somalia and its terrorist groups.
In July, it was revealed that around 100 autism clinics in Minnesota were under investigation for supposedly fraudulent billing to Medicaid for treatments claimed to be for children diagnosed with autism. Most of these incidents seem linked to a corrupt segment of the Somali community in the Minneapolis region.
However, the extent of fraud appears to be much greater than initially thought, involving far larger sums of money. This operation has been overseen by Governor Tim Walz, who had previously been a Democratic vice presidential contender.
The financial implications for Minnesota’s troubled welfare system are staggering. For instance, the state’s Medicaid Housing Stability Services program, which was supposed to launch in 2021 with a budget of $2.6 million, instead disbursed $21 million in its first year. It then escalated to $42 million, $74 million, and $104 million in subsequent years. By the first half of 2025, expenses had already hit $61 million.
Fraud is prevalent in many of Minnesota’s welfare initiatives. A Somali woman named Asha Farhan Hassan has been charged with bilking the Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention Program out of $14 million by wrongly diagnosing Somali kids with autism.
Prosecutors allege that Hassan and her accomplices reached out to Somali families, offering them monthly payments between $300 and $1,500 per child to sign up for a state autism treatment program.
In addition to Hassan’s illegal activities, the fraud linked to autism treatment has been rising. Claims for autism services in Minnesota surged from $3 million in 2018 to $399 million in 2023.
The number of autism therapists in Minnesota saw a significant rise, jumping from 41 in 2020 to 328 in 2025, with all applying for and receiving Medicaid funding from the state. The situation is alarming; one in every 16 Somali 4-year-olds in Minnesota is “officially” diagnosed with autism, a rate that is over three times the state average.
This issue compounds alongside the “Feeding Our Future” scandal, where 70 Somalis in Minnesota faced charges related to a $250 million food aid fraud.
U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson remarked, “This isn’t a standalone issue. From Nourishing Our Future to Housing Stability Services to now Autism Services, these extensive fraud schemes create a network that siphons billions from taxpayer pockets. Each prosecution reveals another aspect of this web.”
Thompson emphasized that unlike many instances of Medicare and Medicaid fraud elsewhere, these cases frequently involve entirely fictitious companies established solely for fraud. “Here in Minnesota, we are uniquely facing this problem,” he noted.
He expressed the frustration: “We’re witnessing plan after plan accumulate and deplete resources meant for those in need. It feels endless. The magnitude of fraud cases here is astonishing.”
The stolen Medicaid and welfare funds have not only enriched corrupt Somali immigrants; they have also contributed to terrorist financing in Africa.
Investigative reports traced millions to al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab. “The Somali community in Minnesota has channeled vast sums through a clan-based informal financial system, known as ‘hawala’, to al-Shabaab,” the reports suggest.
Due to Islamic restrictions against conventional banking, many Muslims in the U.S. use a voluntary hawala system for transactions, which complicates tracking and lends itself well to illicit activities and funding terrorism.
Former Seattle Police Detective Glenn Kearns mentioned tracking $20 million diverted to Africa within a single year through this system and noted finding similar patterns in Minnesota, where there is a significant Somali population.
Yet, investigations indicated that much of the money that was flowing through Minnesota’s hawala system was linked to Department of Human Services benefits, which raises concerns about welfare fraud.
An official noted, “Every economic activity in areas with a large Somali presence, including the Twin Cities, is directed back to Somalia, thereby benefitting al-Shabaab.”
“This is a sensitive topic, but taxpayers from Minnesota are among the major supporters of al-Shabaab,” the official remarked.
Ten years ago, Minnesota topped the nation in terms of residents who traveled abroad to join ISIS and other terrorist organizations. Remarkably, this trend continues, even as millions have funneled to al-Shabaab via the troubled welfare programs in Minnesota.
