Rochester Childcare Center on List of New Fraud Indictments

Minneapolis, MN (KROC-AM News) - Several top Trump administration officials were in Minnesota today to announce criminal indictments against 15 people accused of defrauding federally funded programs in the state.

Accused of $90 Million of Government Fraud

A news release from the Department of Justice says the accused include owners of child care centers and various Medicaid providers. The indictments allege they participated in multiple fraud schemes involving more than $90 million. The statement describes two of the indictments as the largest Medicaid fraud cases ever charged in Minnesota.

“Today, we are holding scammers accountable who ripped off the American taxpayer and harmed those deserving legitimate assistance from these programs,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “These alleged con artists stole taxpayer dollars while providing substandard care for children and abandoning at least one Medicaid recipient as they passed away. The DOJ Fraud Division, along with the White House’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, will dismantle illegal schemes from coast to coast, just as they did today in Minnesota. This is just the tip of the iceberg.”

 

Operator of Rochester Business on Indictment List

The list of defendants includes the operator of child care centers in Rochester and Kasson. Court documents identify the local businesses as Creative Stars Academy. The charges state that Jillaine Mertens also operated a child care business in Ramsey.

It is alleged that she submitted invoices in order to fraudulently collect approximately $425,000 in federal funds through the Great Start Compensation Support Payment Program. The charges allege the fraudulent activity began in the fall of 2024 and continued through May of this year. The initiative was administered by the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families.

Largest Case Involved $46 Million

The news release identifies the largest fraud and case among the indictments as involving federal funding for services provided to children and young adults with autism. It is alleged that two of the defendants defrauded the Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention program of more than $46 million. The charges include allegations that the defendants paid kickbacks to parents who brought their children to the autism centers.

“We continue to accelerate the pace at which we are identifying, investigating, and prosecuting those who stole billions of dollars from under the nose of Minnesota’s government,” said U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota Daniel Rosen. “We have more fraud prosecutors and law enforcement officers on the task force than ever before. Stay tuned.”

Two other defendants are accused of obtaining more than $22 million through a fraud scheme involving Minnesota’s Individualized Home Supports program. The program is designed to help adults with disabilities live independently in their own homes.

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Fraud Tourism

The Department of Justice says an additional eight defendants are accused of defrauding the Housing Stabilization Services program out of nearly $16 million. Some of the defendants lived in Pennsylvania and are accused of traveling to Minnesota “for lucrative opportunities to commit fraud.”

Additional Federal Prosecutors

In addition to the new charges, the Justice Department today announced the hiring of 15 new prosecutors and support staff assigned to combating Medicaid fraud nationwide. It was also announced that the FBI is expanding its Midwest Strike Force to include Minnesota in order to assist in fraud investigations.

Below is a list provided by the Department of Justice of the defendants listed in the new federal fraud indictments.

U.S. v. Shamso Ahmed Hassan, et al.

• Shamso Ahmed Hassan, 55, of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, and Hanaan Mursal Yusuf, 25, of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, were charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, health care fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and to make false statements related to health care matters, and money laundering in connection with a $46.6 million scheme to defraud Minnesota Medicaid’s Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention (EIDBI) Program, of which approximately $21.2 million was paid. As alleged in the indictment, Shamso Ahmed Hassan was a shareholder in two autism centers, Smart Therapy Center and Star Autism Center, although she did not disclose their ownership interests to the Minnesota Department of Human Services as required. Defendant Hanaan Mursal Yusuf worked as a Level II provider of EIDBI services for Smart Therapy Center and was involved in operation of the center, including submitting claims for Medicaid reimbursement. Defendants Shamso Ahmed Hassan and Hanaan Mursal Yusuf paid kickbacks to families to incentivize them to send their children to Smart Therapy Center and Star Autism Center so that those centers could bill for EIDBI services in their children’s names. In fact, both Centers billed Medicaid for services that were not rendered or were not reimbursable by Medicaid. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Sara Porter and Benjamin Smith of the Gulf Coast and Texas Strike Forces, and by Assistant United States Attorney Rebecca Kline of the District of Minnesota.

U.S. v. Charles Healey and Larsen-Guthmiller

• Charles Wayne Healey, 61, of Blue Earth, Minnesota, and Katherin Suzan Larsen-Guthmiller, 66, of Blue Earth, Minnesota, were charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and money laundering. Defendants Charles Healey and Katherin Larsen-Guthmiller operated Healey Homes. From 2021 until Healey Homes was closed by the Minnesota Department of Human Services in 2025, the defendants received $22.7 million in Medicaid reimbursements for supposedly providing Individualized Home Supports (IHS) services to vulnerable adults. But IHS services are intended to support recipients living in their own homes and are explicitly disallowed in provider-controlled settings. Despite their knowledge of this requirement, Healey and Larsen-Guthmiller owned and controlled the residences where they were purportedly providing services to Medicaid recipients. They charged recipients below-market rent in exchange for agreeing to be used to bill Minnesota Medicaid. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Sara Woodward and Sara Porter of the Midwest and Gulf Coast Strike Forces, and by Assistant United States Attorneys Rebecca Kline and Matt Evans of the District of Minnesota.

U.S. v. Deborah Hodges

• Deborah Hodges, 59, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was charged by indictment with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and four counts of health care fraud, in connection with a scheme to submit $5.3 million in fraudulent claims to the Housing Stabilization Services (HSS) Program of Minnesota Medicaid, of which approximately $5.2 million was paid. As alleged in the indictment, Hodges used House of Heroes, Inc. (HOH), an HSS provider, to bill for in-person services that were never actually provided. In one egregious example, she billed Medicaid for in-person services provided while the Medicaid recipient was at an in-patient drug treatment program and falsified case notes to justify the claim. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Brant Cook and Assistant Chief Shankar Ramamurthy of the Midwest Strike Force, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Murphy of the District of Minnesota.

U.S. v. Ahmed Othman Kadar

• Ahmed Kadar, 22, of Rosemount, Minnesota, was charged by indictment with three counts of health care fraud and two counts of money laundering in connection with a scheme to defraud Minnesota Medicaid by billing for Integrated Community Services (ICS) that were not actually provided. As alleged in the indictment, Kadar operated Ultimate Home Health LLC, which was supposed to help people with disabilities live independently in the community rather than in an institutionalized setting such as a group home or assisted living facility. Instead, Kadar caused Ultimate to submit claims to Minnesota Medicaid that were not provided or inflated the number of hours of ICS services actually provided and resulted in Medicaid recipients failing to receive needed medical care. Specifically, Kadar failed to respond to complaints from Medicaid recipients that power had been shut off in their units, forcing them to live without heat during the winter. Kadar also billed Medicaid for ICS services purportedly provided to a recipient who was supposed to be receiving 24-hour care the day before that recipient was found deceased when, in fact, the services were not provided. In total, Kadar submitted approximately $1.4 million in ICS claims to Medicaid and was paid approximately the same amount. He then transferred $400,000 of those funds in violation of Money Laundering statutes. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Shankar Ramamurthy of the Midwest Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Murphy of the District of Minnesota.

U.S. v. Sharmaine Meadows

• Sharmaine Meadows, 45, of Lake Elmo, Minnesota, was charged by indictment with three counts of health care fraud in connection with a scheme to submit over $4.3 million in fraudulent claims to the Housing Stabilization Services (HSS) Program of Minnesota Medicaid, of which nearly $3.7 million was paid. As alleged in the indictment, Meadows, owner and operator of Cradle of Love, LLC, caused the submission of false and fraudulent claims to Minnesota Medicaid for HSS services, directing her employees to bill Medicaid assigned hours per client week after week, regardless of whether services were actually provided, up to maximum available hours under the HSS program. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Jody King of the Florida Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Murphy of the District of Minnesota.

U.S. v. Muhammad Omar and Ibrahim Abdi

• Muhammad Abdulqadir Omar, 32, of Roseville, Minnesota, and Ibrahim Bashir Abdi, 25, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, were charged by indictment with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and four counts of health care fraud in connection with a scheme to submit $3.3 million in fraudulent claims to the Housing Stabilization Services (HSS) Program of Minnesota Medicaid, of which approximately $3.2 million was paid. As alleged in the indictment, Omar and Abdi co-owned and operated North Home Health Care LLC (NHHC) and Omar individually owned South Home Health Care LLC (SHHC). Omar and Abdi, through NHHC and SHHC, submitted claims to the HSS Program for services that they did not provide and for more services than were actually provided to Medicaid recipients. Omar and Abdi then created records falsifying the services that they claimed to have provided to Medicaid recipients and provided those records to insurers to justify their fraudulent claims. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Matthew Belz of the Los Angeles Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Murphy of the District of Minnesota.

U.S. v. Jillaine Ann Mertens

• Jillaine Ann Mertens, 42, of Hamel, Minnesota, was charged by information with one count of wire fraud in connection with a scheme to submit fraudulent claims to the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF), for which she was paid approximately $425,000. As alleged in the indictment, Mertens owned three childcare centers through which she submitted monthly applications to the Great Start Compensation Support Payment Program (GSCSPP) for reimbursement of in-classroom services that were never actually provided, for individuals who were not actually employed by the childcare centers. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Shankar Ramamurthy of the Midwest Strike Force, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Murphy of the District of Minnesota.

U.S. v. Candice Langley and U.S. v. Cynthia Allen

• Cynthia Allen, 62, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Candice Langley 46, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, were charged by separate informations with health care fraud conspiracy. Allen and Langley operated Cynthia Allen Servicing Company, LLC, and Candice Carene, Inc., respectively. Allen and Langley, who are Philadelphia, PA, residents, traveled to Minnesota in 2022 where they registered as Housing Stabilizations Services Program (HSS) providers, and they operated into the summer of 2025. Allen and Langley, along with other associates from the Philadelphia area, opened and operated their putatively separate companies together, including sharing office space, employees, and seeking out clients. Though they provided some services, both Langley and Allen substantially inflated their hours worked and otherwise falsified claims and supporting documentation in their submissions for payment from Minnesota Medicaid. Combined, those two companies claimed to provide HSS to almost 350 Medicaid beneficiaries for which Cynthia Allen billed approximately $2,516,025 and Candice Langley billed approximately $988,282, of which approximately $3,504,307 was paid. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Shankar Ramamurthy and Trial Attorney Brant Cook of the Midwest Strike Force, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Murphy of the District of Minnesota.

U.S. v. Abdulbasit Ibrahim and Mustafa Dayib

• Mustafa Dayib, 22, and Abdulbasit Ibrahim, 22, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, were charged by Information with health care fraud conspiracy. Together, Dayib and Ibrahim operated Vitality Health Services, LLC (Vitality). They enrolled Vitality in the HSS program and, between January 2023 and July 2025, submitted claims for services that were not rendered. For these false and fraudulent claims, they were paid approximately $975,000. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Shankar Ramamurthy of the Midwest Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Murphy of the District of Minnesota.

U.S. v. Fahima Mahamud

• Fahima Mahamud, 50, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, was charged by Information with one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, in connection with two schemes that resulted in the theft of $5,480,329 in Federal funds. As alleged in the Information, Mahamud owned Future Leaders Early Learning Center (Future Leaders), a childcare center and Federal Child Nutrition Program food site responsible for serving food to children. As alleged in the indictment, Mahamud submitted inflated reimbursement claims to Feeding Our Future for meals purportedly served to children at Future Leaders. Through these claims, Future Leaders obtained approximately $854,000 in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds. However, Mahamud only used a fraction of the reimbursements to purchase food. Instead, she diverted the funds to buy real estate. Separately, Future Leaders also submitted claims to the federally funded Child Care Assistance Program for reimbursement of childcare expenses. She repeatedly certified that she was collecting statutorily mandated co-payments, meant to ensure that families were paying their fair share of childcare expenses, but failed to do so. As a result, Future Leaders received approximately $4.6 million to which it was not entitled. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Shankar Ramamurthy of the Midwest Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Murphy of the District of Minnesota.