First Charge Filed In Minnesota's Massive Fake Autism Therapy Scam: Feds

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — A Minneapolis woman recruited families in the Somali community to join a fake autism therapy program that prosecutors say defrauded taxpayers out of $14 million.

Federal officials say it’s the first charge in a widening investigation they’re calling the next chapter of Minnesota’s massive fraud scandals.

Asha Farhan Hassan, 28, faces one count of wire fraud.

According to prosecutors, Hassan created Smart Therapy LLC and billed Medicaid for autism services that were never provided.

To drive enrollment, Hassan paid Somali parents hundreds, sometimes more than $1,500 a month, to sign their kids up for therapy sessions that never happened, authorities said.

The children were then used to maximize Medicaid claims.

Hassan and her partners billed for the maximum number of therapy hours allowed, often on days when no treatment was delivered at all, according to prosecutors.

Instead of professional staff, prosecutors say Smart Therapy relied on untrained 18- and 19-year-old relatives posing as "behavioral therapists."

To make sure no child was ever turned away, Hassan and her partners worked with providers who signed off on autism diagnoses and treatment plans regardless of actual need, authorities said.

Some supervising professionals listed on the paperwork weren’t even in the country when the sessions supposedly took place.

Parents weren’t just passive participants. Prosecutors say many knowingly took the cash kickbacks and pressured Smart Therapy for higher payouts, threatening to switch their kids to other centers if they didn’t get more.

Larger families made thousands of dollars a month through the scheme, according to prosecutors.

The fraud didn’t stop there, authorities said. Drivers who picked up and dropped off children billed the state for transportation while also collecting paychecks from Smart Therapy.

Hassan and her partners split the proceeds, sending hundreds of thousands overseas, including to buy real estate in Kenya, according to authorities.

At the same time, Hassan joined the Feeding Our Future scandal, prosecutors said.

She claimed Smart Therapy was feeding "exactly 300 children" every single day before inflating that figure to 1,200, authorities said.

Fake rosters, invoices, and vendor contracts helped her pocket nearly $465,000 in food program funds.

"From Feeding Our Future to Housing Stabilization Services and now Autism Services, these massive fraud schemes form a web that has stolen billions of dollars in taxpayer money," Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson said. "Each case we bring exposes another strand of this network."

Officials emphasized that Hassan is only the first defendant charged in the autism program case, and more indictments are expected as investigators follow the money trail.

The investigation is ongoing and is being led by the FBI, IRS, HHS-OIG, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.