The Minnesota fraud scandal is a string of federal cases, starting in 2022, over money stolen from taxpayer-funded programs the state runs: a pandemic child meal program, Medicaid autism therapy and housing help, and child care aid. On December 29, 2025, the Justice Department said it had charged 98 people in Minnesota fraud cases and that more than 60 had pleaded guilty or been convicted.
- First charges
- September 20, 2022: 47 people in the Feeding Our Future case
- Charged statewide
- 98 people, more than 60 convicted (Justice Department, December 29, 2025)
- Largest case
- Feeding Our Future, $250 million; ringleader sentenced to 500 months
- Widest estimate
- “Half or more” of $18 billion in Medicaid payments since 2018 (December 18, 2025)
The Minnesota fraud scandal, case by case
The Minnesota fraud scandal runs through four main programs, each with its own prosecutions:
| Program | What prosecutors say happened | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|
| Feeding Our Future (child meals) | Meal sites billed for food never served | 79 charged and 66 convicted by June 2026 |
| Autism therapy (EIDBI) | Clinics paid parents kickbacks and billed for therapy not given | First charges September 2025; a $46.6 million case charged May 2026 |
| Housing Stabilization Services | Providers billed for housing help they never gave | Program ended October 31, 2025; guilty pleas continue |
| Child Care Assistance Program | Providers billed improperly, including without required co-payments | 158 providers under state review in January 2026; one guilty plea July 9, 2026 |
Feeding Our Future, where the Minnesota fraud scandal began
The Minnesota fraud scandal began with Feeding Our Future, a nonprofit that sponsored federal child meal sites and, prosecutors proved, sat at the center of a $250 million fraud during the pandemic. Prosecutors charged 47 people on September 20, 2022. A jury convicted founder Aimee Bock on March 19, 2025, and Judge Nancy Brasel sentenced her to 500 months on May 21, 2026. The Feeding Our Future explainer walks through the scheme, the trials and the sentences.
Autism, housing and child care cases in the Minnesota fraud scandal
The Minnesota fraud scandal spread to Medicaid in 2025, and the autism case grew straight out of the meal case. “Roughly two dozen or so Feeding Our Future defendants were getting money from autism clinics,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson said. Housing Stabilization Services, meant to help seniors and people with disabilities keep a home, cost $104 million in 2024 after being projected at $2.6 million a year, prosecutors said.
Child care is the newest front. The Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) helps about 23,000 children from low-income families. Fahima Mahamud, owner of Future Leaders Early Learning, pleaded guilty on July 9, 2026, in a case that included about $4.6 million in CCAP claims made without collecting the family co-payments the program requires.
What prosecutors say the Minnesota fraud scandal cost
Prosecutors have put firm numbers on individual Minnesota fraud cases, but the often-quoted $9 billion figure is an estimate, not a proven loss. Feeding Our Future is the best-documented case: the Justice Department says the nonprofit “fraudulently obtained and disbursed more than $240 million,” and authorities told CNN only about $50 million has been recovered. The 15 people charged on May 21, 2026, are accused in schemes targeting more than $90 million.
The $9 billion comes from a December 18, 2025 news conference, where Thompson described “staggering, industrial-scale fraud” and said “half or more” of roughly $18 billion paid through 14 high-risk Medicaid programs since 2018 may have been stolen. Gov. Tim Walz said “they’re using that number without the proof behind it.”
Who is charged in the Minnesota fraud scandal
Most defendants in the Minnesota fraud scandal are Somali Americans, prosecutors say, but every case is brought against individuals, and the ringleader of the largest scheme is not Somali. In December 2025 the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Minnesota counted 82 Somali Americans among the 92 defendants in the meal, housing and autism schemes, the AP reported. Bock is white, and nearly all Feeding Our Future defendants are U.S. citizens.
Somali Minnesotans have condemned the fraud and warned against blaming everyone for it. “Somali Minnesotans have to face this, and they really have to clean up their act, because the state deserves better than that,” Macalester College professor Ahmed Samatar told PBS NewsHour. Jaylani Hussein of CAIR-Minnesota put it another way: “Fraud harms everyone, but demonizing an entire community for the acts of individuals is not accountability. It is collective punishment.”
How Nick Shirley’s video fits the Minnesota fraud scandal
Nick Shirley’s December 26, 2025 video did not open the Minnesota fraud scandal, but it made child care its public face. CNN noted he was not the first to report the allegations; the video has drawn 144 million views on X, and four days after it posted, HHS froze all federal child care payments to Minnesota, crediting his work. State inspectors found children at all but one of the nine centers he filmed, and his “$110,000,000” total is his own estimate, but the owner of one center in the video pleaded guilty on July 9, 2026. The Minnesota daycare file tracks each claim.
State and federal responses to the Minnesota fraud scandal
State and federal responses to the Minnesota fraud scandal escalated through 2025 and 2026. In October 2025, Gov. Tim Walz paused payments to 14 high-risk Medicaid programs for 90 days and ordered a third-party audit; on January 5, 2026, he ended his campaign for a third term.
In Washington, HHS froze Minnesota’s federal child care payments on December 30, 2025; a wider five-state freeze announced January 6 was blocked by a judge on January 9 and reversed in July. Immigration enforcement surged as well under Operation Metro Surge; NPR said the federal surge brought thousands of arrests and two deaths. Nick Shirley testified about the fraud in both chambers of Congress, and on October 20, 2026, President Trump gave him the first award of a new fraud whistleblower program.
What is still open in the Minnesota fraud scandal
Much of the Minnesota fraud scandal was unresolved as of October 29, 2026:
- Aimee Bock’s appeal to the Eighth Circuit, filed in June 2026.
- Sentencing for most convicted Feeding Our Future defendants; about 16 had been sentenced by June 2026.
- The April 28 searches, which had produced no public charges against the Quality Learing Center.
- The lawsuit three child care centers filed against the state on February 19, 2026.
Minnesota fraud scandal FAQ
How much money was stolen in the Minnesota fraud scandal?
No court has set a total for the Minnesota fraud scandal. Proven and charged cases run to hundreds of millions of dollars, led by Feeding Our Future’s $250 million; the $9 billion figure is a prosecutor’s estimate.
Who is Aimee Bock in the Minnesota fraud scandal?
Aimee Bock founded Feeding Our Future, the nonprofit at the center of the Minnesota fraud scandal’s biggest case; she was convicted on March 19, 2025, and sentenced to 500 months on May 21, 2026.
Are the Minnesota fraud defendants Somali?
Most Minnesota fraud defendants are Somali Americans: prosecutors counted 82 of 92 in three schemes in December 2025. Somali leaders have condemned the fraud and warned against blaming a whole community.
Did Tim Walz resign over the Minnesota fraud scandal?
Tim Walz did not resign over the Minnesota fraud scandal, but he ended his campaign for a third term on January 5, 2026, as the scandal deepened.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Justice (X): “We have charged 98 individuals in relation to fraud in Minnesota”, December 29, 2025
- U.S. Department of Justice: U.S. Attorney Announces Federal Charges Against 47 Defendants in $250 Million Feeding Our Future Fraud Scheme, September 20, 2022
- U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota: Federal Jury Finds Feeding Our Future Mastermind and Co-Defendant Guilty in $250 Million Fraud Scheme, March 19, 2025
- U.S. Department of Justice: Feeding Our Future Ringleader Sentenced to 500 Months, May 22, 2026
- U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division: 2026 Minnesota health care fraud case summaries, July 29, 2026
- U.S. Department of Justice: Two Minnesota Men Plead Guilty to Defrauding Medicaid Housing Services Program, October 1, 2026
- Jim O’Neill, HHS Deputy Secretary (X): Post announcing the Minnesota child care payment freeze, December 30, 2025
- The Associated Press (via NEWS10): Half of $18B in federal funds for Minnesota-run programs may have been defrauded, official says, December 18, 2025
- WDIO: DOJ: Breakdown of ongoing fraud schemes in Minnesota, December 18, 2025
- CNN: Alleged fraud in Minnesota day cares: What we know about the investigation, December 29, 2025
- CNN: ‘Mastermind’ of $250M Minnesota theft scheme gets 500-month prison sentence as feds charge more people with fraud, May 21, 2026
- MPR News: Aimee Bock sentenced to 500 months in prison in Feeding Our Future fraud scheme, May 21, 2026
- Sahan Journal (from the Minnesota Star Tribune): Feeding Our Future ringleader Aimee Bock appeals her conviction, June 17, 2026
- NewsNation: Minnesota fraud investigation: 15 indicted in cases totaling $90 million, May 21, 2026
- CBS Minnesota: Minnesota agency investigating over 150 providers receiving funding from state child care program, January 30, 2026
- CBS Minnesota: Minneapolis daycare owner charged with fraud tried to flee country days after closing center, prosecutors allege, May 20, 2026
- CBS Minnesota: Minnesota daycare owner pleads guilty to 2 fraud charges, July 9, 2026
- PBS NewsHour: Fraud scandals and Trump’s rhetoric escalate fears in Minnesota’s Somali community, December 5, 2025
- Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder: Minnesota’s Somali community pushed into national spotlight over TPS and fraud claims, December 4, 2025
- CNN: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz ends reelection bid amid welfare-fraud scandal, January 5, 2026
- NBC News: Minnesota department finds child care centers targeted in viral video operating normally, January 2, 2026
- FOX 2 Detroit: Department of Health and Human Services lifts $10 billion child care funding freeze on five states, July 14, 2026
- KSTP: Fraud raids: The Minnesota day care and autism centers that were searched, April 28, 2026
- CBS Minnesota: Day cares featured in Nick Shirley video sue Minnesota for throwing them “under the bus”, February 19, 2026
- NPR: Minnesota Democrats blame state Republicans for helping bring on the federal surge, February 16, 2026
- Deseret News: Trump awards Utahn Nick Shirley $10,000 check under new anti-fraud reward program, October 20, 2026
Last updated October 29, 2026