Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has announced that two defendants involved in the “largest autism fraud bust in American history” have been indicted. The Justice Department indicted Shamso Ahmed Hassan, 55, and Hanaan Mursal Yusuf, 25, on numerous charges related to a $46.6 million scheme to defraud Minnesota’s Medicaid Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention Program (EIDBI).
The indictments were one part of a much larger enforcement action taken by the DOJ’s National Fraud Enforcement Division, which took 15 alleged fraudsters into custody to indict them for schemes that targeted over $90 million in taxpayer dollars. “Today’s arrests represent the largest autism fraud bust in American history,” RFK said at a recent news conference.
“This was not a paperwork error. It was not a technical violation. This was organized theft that exploited the most vulnerable children in America, deceived families, stole taxpayer dollars meant to help children with autism access legitimate care and support,” he continued. Hassan was a shareholder in two autism centers, Smart Therapy Center and Star Autism Center.
However, she failed to disclose her ownership in these two facilities to the Minnesota Department of Human Services, which is required by law, according to prosecutors working on the case. Yusuf was employed by the Smart Therapy Center, assisting in its daily operations, including submitting the businesses’ claims for Medicaid reimbursement, a report from Fox News revealed.
The two individuals allegedly paid kickbacks to families to incentivize them to bring their kids to Smart Therapy Center and Star Autism Center in order to bill Medicaid for services related to autism in their children’s names. However, the services were never provided or did not qualify for reimbursement by Medicaid.
A total of $21.6 million out of the $46.6 million they filed for reimbursement was paid out, according to information contained in the indictment. The Justice Department is seeking restitution for that money. The report then said that the two “diverted hundreds of thousands of dollars of the fraud proceeds” to “their families’ personal use and benefit, including through real property purchases and transferring funds overseas, including to Kenya.”
Both defendants were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and one count of money laundering. Yusuf was also slapped with five counts of healthcare fraud, while Hassan was charged with two. “Every fraudulent autism diagnosis steals time, care and resources from the children for whom this program was designed and who desperately need this care,” Kennedy said.
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“Families with autistic children already face enormous challenges navigating therapies, specialists and support systems. Fraud makes those barriers even steeper,” Kennedy added. Fraud in the state of Minnesota has been a focal point of President Donald Trump’s push to crackdown on fraud in the United States. A video by a popular YouTube journalist published in December 2025 revealed that many individuals within the Somali community have been running fake daycare centers in order to defraud the government out of funds, cheating those who actually require those services out of money they need.