At an event held in St. Cloud yesterday, which I reported on here, federal officials announced new fraud prosecutions and expanded efforts to track stolen money. The Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a press release headlined,
DOJ’s Fraud Division and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District Minnesota Uncover Nearly $30 Million in Benefits Fraud in Enforcement Surge
If anything, as discussed below, the dollar amount cited lowballs recent federal activity. The DOJ also reports,
The U.S. Attorney’s Office and Fraud Division have issued over 1,000 subpoenas for the purpose of uncovering fraud in Minnesota just this year alone.
The narrative you’ve heard was that the $500 million Feeding Our Future case was the beginning and the end of fraud prosecution in Minnesota. Not even close. Based on yesterday’s DOJ press release, I will be adding ten (10) new defendants to my federal fraud defendant tracker. That brings the total to 126, including 81 Feeding Our Future defendants.
The ten additions to the list include the following,
- Nicole Lee Slegers, Medicaid
- Shaun Hubert Slegers, Medicaid
- Shaakir Mohamud Ibrahim, FOF
- Ahmed Abdul Razaq Al Obaidi, SNAP
- Muhammad Abdullah Kahn, SNAP
- Emily Marice Ravits, Autism
- Feisal Mohamed Elmi, Autism
- Faiza Osman Ahmed, PCA
- Jama Yusuf Mohamod, ICS
- Habiba Mohamed, Autism
How “new” these cases are depends on how closely you’ve been following recent federal court filings. All ten are in addition to the fifteen cases announced in May by the U.S. Attorney for Minnesota.
Shaakir Ibrahim (#3 above) is the 81st and most recent defendant charged in the Feeding Our Future fraud scandal. He was indicted in late September.
Ibrahim, 54 and billed out of Pelican Rapids, is accused in participating in a $1 million fraud of the federal child nutrition program. Due to the complexity of the case, he is not due back in court until January 2027. Ibrahim is accused of working with Feeding Our Future defendant No. 78 (who has already pled guilty) and another unindicted co-conspirator.
Al Obaidi and Kahn (#4 and #5) are accused of running a SNAP fraud through their St. Paul convenience store.
Your correspondent was there when they made their first court appearance last week.
Ravits (#6) was indicted last week for autism fraud. She is due to make her first court appearance on November 6. Ravits, 74 and now living in Tucson, AZ, is accused of operating an $8 million scheme to defraud Medicaid. Her seven (7)-count felony indictment mentions an (unindicted) co-conspirator.
I was in court on Thursday for the initial appearances of defendants #7, #8, and #9. Elmi, 46 and billed out of New Brighton, is accused in a different $8 million autism fraud. His on-again, off-again planned trip to London, U.K., leaving today on a one-way ticket, is now reported as “off.”
Faiza Ahmed, 41 and billed out of Richfield, was indicted this week in a $10 million personal care attendant (PCA) fraud. She is due back in court on November 16.
Jama Mohamod, 69 and billed out of Maple Grove, was indicted this week in a $3 million Medicaid fraud. Reporter A.J. Lagoe of KARE-11 has been following this case for months and posted this report today. Mohamod is due back in court on November 17.
Habiba Mohamed, 58 and billed out of Coon Rapids, was charged yesterday as being part of an autism fraud in which two other defendants have already been indicated. It involved the Smart Therapy Center autism clinic case for which two other defendants (Nos. 98 and 112) have already been charged. A fourth individual is mentioned in court filings, but not charged.
She is scheduled to plead guilty on November 12.
Not mentioned in yesterday’s DOJ press release were two other cases filed by federal prosecutors this month in Minnesota. Father and son Ku and Travis Vue were indicted earlier this month in a sixteen (16) count tax fraud indictment. The Vue’s also made their first court appearance on Thursday.
They are due back in court on November 16.