Federal investigators say a $14 million Medicaid fraud scheme has shaken Minnesota’s autism support system, leaving families and state officials shocked. The case centers on Smart Therapy LLC, where prosecutors say workers billed the state for fake autism services, forged records, and treatment hours that never happened.
Many parents and children were pulled into the scheme even when kids did not have autism, according to filings from federal prosecutors and public reports from the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) and U.S. Department of Justice.
Officials say Asha Farhan Hassan, age 28, created Smart Therapy in 2019 and hid banned partners who were not allowed to work with Medicaid. Investigators say she used the state’s Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention (EIDBI) program, which helps children under 21 with autism, as the main target of the fraud.
This program is part of Minnesota’s Medicaid services and is normally funded through federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) guidelines. The scheme operated in simple but damaging steps. Federal court documents show that Smart Therapy staff often billed for the maximum hours allowed, even when kids were in the center for only a short time or never arrived at all.
Some claims used forged signatures from doctors who were not at the center, not employed there, or sometimes even overseas.
The facts in this story are truly disgusting:
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) November 21, 2025
Millions in stolen Minnesota welfare dollars have been funneled to Al-Shabaab — an ISIS-aligned TERROR group.
This happened because Democrats built a system so loose, so corrupt, and so politically timid that fraudsters exploited it…
Parents from Minnesota’s Somali community were recruited with cash kickbacks, usually $300 to $1,500 per month, depending on how many hours the center billed to Medicaid. This improper payment to families helped the fraud grow fast. The center also used teen workers who were not qualified to provide autism therapy.
Investigators report that linked transportation companies also sent in fake ride claims, billing Medicaid for trips that never happened. These overlapping scams helped push the total over $14 million, pulled from state Medicaid funds and insurance groups like UCare.
Federal agents with the FBI raided Smart Therapy in Minneapolis and another linked center, Star Autism Center in St. Cloud, in late 2024 after finding what they called “substantial evidence” of fraud. Prosecutors say some of the money was moved overseas, including large purchases in Kenya. This case also connects to the “Feeding Our Future” food-aid fraud, where Hassan had already received nearly $465,000 in stolen funds.
Officials warn this case is part of a larger pattern. Minnesota’s EIDBI program exploded from $3 million in 2018 to $399 million in 2023, prompting major audits. DHS has publicly stated that many autism centers are now under review for suspicious billing, and the state is working to strengthen oversight to protect families and Medicaid dollars.
This investigation is one of the biggest Medicaid autism fraud cases Minnesota has ever seen. Authorities say new controls are coming so that children with autism can get the real care, support, and treatment they need—without fraud stealing the money meant for them.
