Inside Minnesota's $1B fraud: fake offices, phony firms and a scandal hiding in plain sight

Twenty-two "businesses" connected to the HSS program were registered to this single location. Thompson described these entities as "purely fictitious companies solely created to defraud the system."

These 22 fraudulent businesses collectively billed Medicaid for a staggering $8 million between January 2024 and May 2025.

Several men sat together and engaged in conversation at the building entrance. When approached, they told Fox News Digital that they did not speak English.

However, the western side of the building housed a number of seemingly legitimate businesses on the first floor, including a hair salon, a financial support and loan service for African immigrants and a property management office.

Following extensive FBI searches of the building, the Minnesota Department of Human Services conducted approximately 40 investigations into providers associated with the larger Griggs-Midway building.

Brilliant Minds Services allegedly submitted over $2.3 million of the $8 million in fraudulent claims from the Griggs-Midway location, ranking as one of the state's highest-billing HSS providers last year.

Four defendants, Moktar Hassan Aden, 30; Mustafa Dayib Ali, 29; Khalid Ahmed Dayib, 26; Abdifitah Mohamud Mohamed, 27, were charged in the fraud case. Mohamed was the owner of one of the other fraudulent businesses implicated, Foundation First Services LLC.

Another false claim location took Fox News Digital to a second-story walkup above a sushi shop just blocks away from the Mississippi River.

The entryway was locked, and it was unclear whether the fraudster simply utilized the address to keep distance, or if the fraudster was actually located at the unit number listed on the claim.

The second floor showed little sign of life. Though one window displayed a "No Kings, No Fascists" sign facing out onto the snowy city street.

A large uniform reddish-brown brick building known as "Winsor Plaza" was the next destination of Fox News Digital's trek through a brewing Minnesota snowstorm.

The simple, box-like form of the building was centered by a red canopy protruding from the structure's primary entrance. A white-water tower with "Roseville" painted in red letters rose in the distance through the fog. Inside, a directory showed dozens of legitimate businesses, including doctors' offices and wealth management services.

A search through the quiet halls of 1935 W County Road gave way to confusion. Unit 150, the office space listed on the false claim, was nowhere to be found. It appeared that in the building's current configuration the suite simply did not exist. Not only was the claim fraudulent, so was the address.

A similar situation occurred at 9120 Baltimore St N. The claims report noted that the fraudulent entity was operating out of suite 100. Upon arrival, 9120 was seen affixed to a stone pillar in the center of a business parking lot.

However, there was no conglomerate of office spaces or apartment units, no numbers affixed to different storefronts. Only a singular, operational dental office. Another apparent fraudulent address.

The trend was broken at the next two locations.

2756 Douglas Dr N is a commercial address in Crystal, Minnesota, housing businesses like Rock Bridge Counseling & Mental Health and All Kind Painting & Cleaning, offering services for teens in crisis and home improvement, respectively.

These two businesses comprise suites A and B of the building but were not the fraudulent entities listed on location claims. A real building, with real businesses, but a fake company that appeared to never exist in that space.

Another stop, 1541 Como Ave, was found inside a narrow St. Paul, Minnesota, alleyway. The address housed a small, rusted garage affixed to the back of a church. The garage appeared vacant, with no mailbox or garbage cans.

A picnic bench just outside the garage door was covered in leaves, snow and other debris.

Several gentlemen inside a nearby local business told Fox News Digital that a man named "John" had used the location for a small pop-up gym and fitness center. He was often seen driving around in a fancy car. There was no indication as to whether this location was the legitimate operation center of the fraudulent claim.

4601 E 54th St, another location tied to the scandal, was visited by Fox News Digital only to find an empty parking lot. The address listed was in the 400s on the street. However, there are no 400s on that street, only 500s.

Another location, 2720 E Lake St, was completely boarded up and covered in graffiti with a homeless individual sleeping out front. The building appeared to have been inoperable for a long period of time.

"There was a legislative auditor report that showed that 30 property owners where these businesses claim to operate out of, contacted the Department of Education who manage it, who managed that program, and they told them one, the businesses don't exist in their facilities, so they don't exist, period, and one of them I think was a city park," Koran said. 

"And so the Department of Education gave that complaint to the nonprofit Feeding Our Future to address those issues, and the Department of Education continued to pay millions to those thirty with a blatant, simple process of 'We've been notified they don't exist' and they rejected and ignored it."