Two days ago, top Trump administration officials flew to Minneapolis to announce what the FBI called a turning point in the federal war on healthcare fraud. Fifteen people were charged Thursday in what prosecutors described as $90 million in Medicaid schemes — including the two largest Medicaid fraud cases ever brought in the District of Minnesota and the largest autism fraud case ever charged by the Department of Justice nationally. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Dr. Mehmet Oz, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald stood together at the press conference. McDonald delivered a direct assessment: “A culture of fraud has taken root.”
The same day, a federal judge sentenced Aimee Bock, founder of the Minnesota nonprofit Feeding Our Future, to 41 and a half years in prison for her role in what DOJ called the nation’s single largest COVID-19 fraud scheme — $250 million stolen from federal child nutrition programs.
The 15 defendants charged Thursday operated autism centers, child care programs, and housing assistance companies. Two of them billed Minnesota’s Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention program for autism services never provided, running up $46.6 million in fraudulent claims. Eleven others defrauded three separate programs designed to help disabled people live independently, producing more than $39.1 million in losses. One patient assigned to receive 24-hour care received nothing. He was later found dead.
McDonald did not describe Thursday’s action as a conclusion. “This is the beginning of our work in Minnesota,” he said. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche added: “This is just the tip of the iceberg.”
The Minneapolis action is the sharpest point of a nationwide enforcement campaign that has accelerated through 2026. DOJ’s National Fraud Division, stood up April 1, brought 450 fraud enforcement actions in its first seven weeks. The department also announced 15 new trial attorneys dedicated solely to Medicaid fraud, expanding the Health Care Fraud Strike Force’s Midwest operation. Since 2007, the strike force program has charged more than 6,200 defendants who billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $45 billion combined.
CMS Administrator Oz has driven investigative pressure across all 50 states. In February, he estimated total nationwide Medicaid fraud at $100 billion. In early May, he named five states under active federal scrutiny — Minnesota, California, Florida, New York, and Maine — and told Fox News he suspects organized foreign criminal networks are operating inside the programs, identifying a Russian mafia presence in Los Angeles, a Chinese mafia presence in Flushing, Queens, and possible Cuban government involvement in South Florida.
On May 13, Vice President JD Vance joined Oz at the White House to announce a six-month nationwide freeze on new Medicare enrollments for hospice and home health providers and the deferral of $1.3 billion in Medicaid payments to California pending a fraud investigation. CMS had already suspended payments to hundreds of hospice and home care agencies in Los Angeles. Vance told other states directly: fail to aggressively prosecute Medicaid fraud and face funding cuts.
CMS’s own records document the scale. In 2025, CMS suspended $5.7 billion in suspected fraudulent Medicare payments and blocked $1.5 billion in fraudulent durable medical equipment billing. The June 2025 National Health Care Fraud Takedown charged 324 defendants — including 96 licensed medical professionals — in $14.6 billion in fraud schemes, more than double the previous record for a single DOJ takedown.
Medicare Advantage carries its own fraud exposure. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission projected CMS overpaid private insurers $83 billion in 2024 alone through upcoding and favorable selection tactics. HHS Inspector General investigations found private insurers collected approximately $4.2 billion in extra CMS payments in 2022 for diagnoses generated by home visits that led to no treatment.
Minnesota’s own state-commissioned review identified up to $1.7 billion in improper payments over four years. In April, Oz formally required all 50 governors to submit plans for revalidating high-risk Medicaid providers, writing: “Corrupt individuals and organizations masquerading as health care providers are defrauding Medicaid, and American taxpayers, of billions of dollars each year, placing valuable resources out of reach for those the program was intended to serve.”
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