Volume 36, Number 10
OCTOBER 2025
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Charges in ‘massive’ wire fraud
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Disability community members will make their presence known at the state capitol.
Preparations are well underway for 2026 legislative session The 2026 Minnesota Legislature doesn’t convene until February 17. But pre-session work is well underway. Disability organizations and advocates have already put in many hours on bills for the å session. Rally days are being planned, with an eye toward changes in capitol access and security. The Minnesota Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (MNCCD) has an October 10 deadline for its members to get policy proposals in. Rough drafts are sought by October 4 MNCCD works with contract lobbyists on bills and for assistance to monitor happenings
and trends at the capitol. The consortium also checks in regularly with member organizations and individuals to hear their priorities. MNCCD has long used a tier system to outline how it will support the many bills its members work on. In recent years the intent of the tier system has been used to outline how consortium resources are used, and not to say which bills are more important than others. The support levels for various bills include full lobbyist support, some lobbyist support or coalition support only. In some cases MNCCD
FOR OUR DISABILITY COMMUNITY LOOKING FOR SERVICES AND SUPPORT? CHECK OUT PAGES 6-7
SESSION To page 5
Get 'reved' up and be ready to vote on November 4 Minnesotans go to polls November 4 to vote on local and in two areas, state office holders. Many communities also have special levies and initiatives which would change municipal charters. The Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office indicates that there are two state Senate special elections, and 38 city and school district regular elections on ballots around the state. That is in addition to almost 80 special elections. Voters can find out if there is an election in their area, view a sample ballot, and find their polling place at mnvotes.gov/pollfinder. Disabled voters must know their legal rights and exercise their right to vote. That message is emphasized by the REV UP! MN Coalition. REV UP stands for Register! Educate! Vote! Use your Power! The Arc Minnesota leads the coalition. Its goal is to increase the percentage of people with disabilities who vote in Minnesota. The need to vote and be able to have a say in shaping important federal, state and local policies is emphasized. Coalition members hosted two online sessions in September to promote voting. Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office leaders
ISTOCK
by Michelle Griffith Minnesota Reformer Eight people have been charged with wire fraud for collectively billing Medicaid about $8 million for services they allegedly did not provide in what a federal prosecutor called a massive “fraud scheme” related to the state’s defunct housing stabilization program. This is only the first wave of charges, said Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson at a press conference September 18. Minnesota became the first state in 2020 to leverage Medicaid dollars to help older adults and people with disabilities find and maintain housing, but the program is “riddled with fraud,” Thompson said. Program costs have ballooned suspiciously since its inception, and “most of it is fraud, as far as I can tell,” Thompson said. Analysts predicted the program would cost about $2.6 million annually. But in 2021, the program paid out more than $21 million in claims. It then ballooned to $42 million in 2022, $74 million in 2023 and $104 million in 2024, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. In the first six months of 2025, the program paid out another $61 million. The latest charges are another instance of the alleged defrauding of a Minnesota public program, joining the looting of a pandemic-era food aid program and the state’s autism program. “Minnesota is drowning in fraud,” Thompson said. The federal charges were leveled against: Moktar Hassan Aden, 30, Mustafa Dayib Ali, 29, Khalid Ahmed Dayib, 26, Abdifitah Mohamud Mohamed, 27, Christopher Adesoji Falade, 62, Emmanuel Oluwademilade Falade, 32, Asad Ahmed Adow, 26, and Anwar Ahmed Adow, 25. Thompson said the defendants targeted vulnerable people, many of whom were being released from drug or alcohol rehab facilities, and signed them up to purportedly help them find stable housing. “Most of these individuals did not receive the stable housing they so desperately needed. The money was simply stolen,” Thompson said. Many of the Housing Stabilization Services providers also had one or more companies billing other Medicaid programs, like the Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention Program operated through autism treatment providers. As the Reformer first reported in 2024, the feds are investigating that program, too. “The level of fraud in these programs is staggering. Unfortunately, our system of trust but verify no longer works. These programs have been abused over and over to the point where the fraud has overtaken the legitimate services,” Thompson said. The Department of Human Services, which administers the Housing Stabilization Services program, said in a statement that the agency has been collaborating with law enforcement to root out fraud. WIRE FRAUD To page 5
and Chad Wilson, supervising attorney with the Minnesota Disability Law Center, provided key information for Minnesota’s disability community. One point Secretary of State Steve Simon and Wilson emphasized is that disabled voters have options and should use those. A takeaway from both sessions is that proposed federal changes pose threats to the civil rights of people with disabilities. Efforts to take away absentee ballots are a huge concern as many disabled voters utilize those. Early voting for Minnesota’s general election began on September 19, 46 days before Election Day. Voters can cast absentee
ballots or vote in person at specified locations. Minnesota has no-excuse absentee voting law, allowing for eligible voters to cast their ballots in this manner. New this year for local elections, registered voters can request an absentee ballot online. The deadline for returning absentee ballots has changed to 5 p.m. on Election Day. For those voting in mail ballot only areas, ballots can still be returned until 8 p.m. on Election Day. Absentee and mail ballots can be returned by mail or hand-delivered to the voter’s local election office. Absentee voters can work with a designated agent to have ballots delivered. VOTE To page 5
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