Another fraudster in Minnesota has been exposed for claiming to provide services for children who have autism, but instead pulled in millions of dollars from making fraudulent Medicaid billings. Abdinajib Yussuf pleaded guilty on Monday to one count of wire fraud. According to court documents, Yussuf opened the Star Center Autism Center in the city of St. Cloud back in 2020, claiming to provide one-on-one therapy to children who have autism.
The federal indictment revealed that he would approach parents within the Somali community to recruit their children to participate in the center. Even if the child did not have an autism diagnosis, Yussuf would partner with a service professional to get the child qualified for services. He then submitted millions of dollars worth of claims to Medicaid for reimbursement.
Overall, Yussuf managed to pull in more than $6 million in reimbursement funds from the Minnesota Department of Services and UCare. And Yussuf wasn’t the only individual who benefited from the scam. He would share the proceeds with some of the parents who enrolled their kids in Star Autism. Prosecutors for the case say he also bought a $100,000 Freightliner semi-truck and shipped $200,000 to Kenya.
According to a report from CBS News, Star Autism Center was raided by the FBI in 2024, along with Smart Therapy Center. The individual who ran that facility, a woman, siphoned $14 million in Medicaid funds, going on to plead guilty to one count of wire fraud in December 2025. The report also revealed that the investigation into both autism centers was the product of the probe launched into the $250 million Feeding Our Future scheme.
The White House recently paused $259 million in federal Medicaid payments that were to be sent to Minnesota, which angered Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, who referred to the move by the Trump administration as “totally illegal and unprecedented.” Vice President JD Vance, along with Dr. Mehmet Oz, who serves as the head of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, explained that the funding freeze is part of a much bigger crackdown on fraud in Minnesota.
During his plea hearing, Yussuf said that he personally didn’t know anyone with autism, so his “investors” provided him with both clients and additional staff, while he took care of the administrative side of the business, KARE 11 reported. Court documents then said that the workers Yussuf hired for the Star Autism Center were family members who lacked proper qualifications to provide care for autistic children, including some minors.
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Since Yussuf pleaded guilty to the charge of wire fraud, he could potentially serve up to five years in prison when it comes time for his sentencing. He’s not the only one looking at potential jail time. Prosecutors in the case say they are going to indict all of his “investors” too. Conservative activist Nick Shirley, who has been heavily involved as a citizen journalist in exposing fraud in the state, shared the news of Yussuf’s case, along with an undercover video of himself speaking with someone who ran a similar operation, clearly indicating that there are more of these fraudulent schemes still going on.
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