"Fraud tourists" from Philly plead guilty to defrauding Minnesota programs

Two Philadelphia-based men accused of traveling to Minneapolis aft a person told them the taxpayer-funded programs determination presented "a bully accidental to marque money," pleaded blameworthy to ligament fraud connected Monday, tribunal records show.

Anthony Waddell Jefferson and Lester Brown were accused of siphoning millions from federally funded programs administered by Minnesota officials that were meant to assistance the disabled and those suffering from addiction, according to tribunal filings. They allegedly fleeced the lodging programme successful Minnesota contempt "living connected the different broadside of the state and having nary web successful oregon connections to Minnesota oregon its communities," the filings stated.  

Sentencing has not been scheduled for either man.

Jefferson owned a institution named Chozen Runner successful Pennsylvania, but astir Feb. 2022, connected the proposal of a friend, helium registered the institution successful Minnesota. Lester Brown registered his institution Retsel Real Estate successful Minnesota during the aforesaid period. The men did so, tribunal documents said, to defraud Housing Stabilization Services ("HSS") program, a Medicaid programme designed to assistance radical with disabilities and addictions find and support housing.

The brace reached retired to clients by selling themselves astatine shelters and astatine Section 8 lodging facilities successful Minnesota arsenic "The Housing Guys." They operated their companies retired of downtown bureau abstraction successful Minneapolis, portion traveling backmost and distant from Minnesota to Philadelphia.

Jefferson, tribunal documents said, generated fake documentation to taxable bills and hired household members and others to enactment for Chozen Runner.  Some of the messages were written by ChatGPT, tribunal documents said, and some men made up records and submitted documentation for items to HSS that did not ever occur. They submitted inflated figures and helped each other's companies by consulting each other's clients. 

The duo claimed entitlement to astir $3,568,171 successful HSS Program payments, tribunal documents said. 

Federal prosecutors person been looking into large-scale fraud successful respective Minnesota programs ever since dozens were indicted and convicted starting successful 2022 in the Feeding Our Future scandal, which saw the theft of $250 cardinal successful payer funds meant to provender children successful need. A apical authoritative suggested that the full magnitude of fraud successful Minnesota could be $9 cardinal oregon more.

Cara Tabachnick contributed to this report.

In:

• Minnesota
• Fraud
• Philadelphia