Justice Department Says Minnesota Fraud Push Has Issued 1,000-Plus Subpoenas This Year as 13 More Face Charges or Sentences
The Justice Department says federal prosecutors have issued more than 1,000 subpoenas and executed more than 40 search warrants in Minnesota this year as part of a crackdown on fraud in taxpayer-funded programs, and that 13 more defendants have been charged, convicted or sentenced since Sept. 30.
According to a Friday release reviewed by The Digital Free Press, the 13 cases involve schemes with nearly $83 million in alleged or proven intended losses to the federal government, including about $29.1 million in newly charged cases. The work is a joint effort of the department's National Fraud Enforcement Division and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota.
"Minnesota is the epicenter for fraud in America," Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said in the release. "The Trump administration's crackdown is working, and the results speak for themselves."
The New Minnesota Fraud Cases
Most of the newly charged cases involve Minnesota's Medicaid programs, especially the Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention (EIDBI) autism therapy program. According to the release, prosecutors charged one provider in an alleged $8.2 million EIDBI scheme that billed for services not provided, including for employees who were outside the United States. Another defendant was charged in an alleged $19.1 million EIDBI scheme and is accused of paying kickbacks to parents of Medicaid recipients.
A licensed social worker was indicted in an alleged $7.7 million scheme in which prosecutors say she signed off as a supervising professional for autism therapy providers without performing the required duties. Another defendant faces charges over about $10 million in claims to several home-care programs, and a Maple Grove man is charged over about $3.2 million in claims to the Integrated Community Supports program. The release says that defendant "used Super Intelligence to create fake patient notes."
The release also lists a man arrested Sept. 30 after nearly 10 months as a fugitive in Kenya, charged in a $1.1 million Feeding Our Future child-nutrition scheme, and two men charged with trafficking SNAP food-assistance benefits at a Blaine store, a case from a joint USDA and Homeland Security operation called Operation Cold SNAP.
The charges are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Convictions and Sentences
On Oct. 28, U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel sentenced Salim Ahmed Said, 37, of Plymouth, to 360 months in prison for his role in the $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud. Prosecutors say Said claimed his Safari Restaurant served more than 3.9 million meals to children and that he facilitated more than $44 million in fraud proceeds.
On Oct. 30, Said Farah, 44, of Minneapolis was sentenced to 78 months for bribery of a juror. According to the release, he helped gather $200,000 in cash that a co-conspirator delivered to a juror's home during his 2024 fraud trial; the juror reported it to law enforcement.
A jury also convicted a Savage woman on Oct. 21 of wire fraud, bribery and money laundering in another Feeding Our Future case, and a couple pleaded guilty to taking at least 14 vehicles from the estates of deceased Medicaid recipients.
The department said that since a May takedown, 16 defendants have been convicted, and that courts have imposed about 550 months of prison time in Minnesota fraud cases over the past 110 days. The effort supports the administration's Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance, according to the release.
Sources: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, press release 26-1295, "DOJ's Fraud Division and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District Minnesota Uncover Nearly $30M in Benefits Fraud in Enforcement Surge" (Oct. 30, 2026): https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/dojs-fraud-division-and-us-attorneys-office-district-minnesota-uncover-voter-fraud-and . Cover photo: U.S. Courthouse, Minneapolis, by Tony Webster via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
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