Members of the White House Fraud Task Force assembled in St. Cloud, Minnesota on Friday to announce new takedowns in the state from ongoing fraud investigations across government agencies.
Key Trump administration officials from the FBI, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Treasury Department announced the fruits of their combined efforts investigating and prosecuting fraud across Minnesota at a press conference in the city.
“In many ways, the war on fraud, our nation’s war on fraud, started right here in Minnesota,” CMS administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said during the press conference. “We have been doing a lot of work in Minnesota, as we have in many other states. The problems here are not unique to Minnesota, but they are particularly evident in Minnesota.”
Vice President JD Vance — the head of the White House Fraud Task Force — cancelled his appearance in St. Cloud hours before the event, a spokesperson from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota told the Minnesota Star Tribune. The Attorney’s Office did not provide a reason for the cancellation, per the outlet.
“This FBI followed the money,” Director Kash Patel said. “This FBI will put in prison anyone who commits fraud anywhere in the world against any American citizen.”
The FBI in Minneapolis executed 17 search warrants on Thursday to combine into a 26-count indictment, Patel announced. The Bureau and interagency partners arrested four of the alleged childcare center and healthcare center fraudsters: Feisal Elmi, of Aspen Associates, charged with 11 counts of healthcare fraud and $8 million in intended loss; Jama Mohamod, of American Home Health Care, charged with six counts of healthcare fraud and $3.27 million in intended loss; Faiza Ahmed, of Home Sweet Home, charged with eight counts of healthcare fraud and $10 million in intended fraud; and Habiba Mohamed, of Smart Therapy, charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, totaling nearly $20 million in intended fraud and loss.
These individuals intended to defraud thousands of victims of over $41 million meant to go to those in need with taxpayer dollars funding the bill, Patel said.
“We are going to continue working with our state and local partners and interagency to dismantle, disrupt and take down fraud networks wherever they are, in Minnesota in St. Cloud and everywhere else in the country,” he added.
The investigations linked to notorious fraud-ridden nonprofit Feeding Our Future resulted in 81 charged, 70 convicted, and over half a billion dollars in combined restitution, Patel said.
The press briefing also announced a closer partnership between the Fraud Task Force and the IRS to combat fraud across the country.
“Since the start of the Trump administration, we have supported law enforcement efforts that led to the arrest and charging of 115 fraudsters, as well as 75 convictions and nearly 3,000 subpoenas across Minnesota,” Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said.
On Thursday, IRS criminal investigators assisted with investigative activity at several sites suspected of fraud across Minnesota, he added.
“They don’t get much press, but they are one of the most effective groups in the United States government for fighting fraud,” Bessent said.
Bessent announced that the IRS is bringing new accountability measures to Minnesota and will be working closer with the fraud task force — a move that Oz called “moving on to the big boy.”
“During COVID, we introduced the possibility of fraud into the federal government, especially in health care services,” Oz said. “And they have taken advantage of it. We are moving on to the big boy. The secretary just yesterday inaugurated their closer relationship with the IRS, which is going to be a very valuable asset because if people are lowly enough to steal from the poor, if criminals take from the poor, they’re almost certainly not paying their taxes.”
Colin M. McDonald, the Assistant Attorney General for the National Fraud Enforcement Division, reported that 14 fraud defendants in Minnesota have been sentenced to a combined total of 988 months in prison.
“We are working hand in hand with the talented and dedicated agents and analysts with the FBI, IRS, HSI, HHS, OIG, Postal Inspection Service, USDA OIG and other law enforcement partners to do this work, and I thank them all,” McDonald said. “Let me be clear. This is still the beginning of our work in Minnesota. We will be here for as long as it takes to punish the wrongdoers in Minnesota.”
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].
Original article
Comments