“Fraud tourists” who traveled from Philadelphia to Minnesota plead guilty to siphoning federal funds
Two Philadelphia-based men accused of traveling to Minneapolis after a friend told them about taxpayer-funded programs featured there “a good opportunity to make money”, pleaded guilty to wire fraud Monday, according to court records.
Anthony Waddell Jefferson and Lester Brown were accused of siphoning millions of dollars from federally funded programs administered by Minnesota officials intended to help people with disabilities and those suffering from addiction, according to court filings. They allegedly stole from Minnesota’s housing program while “living halfway across the country and had no network or connection to Minnesota or its communities,” the documents state.
No sentencing has been scheduled for either man.
Jefferson owned a company named Chozen Runner in Pennsylvania, but around February 2022, on the advice of a friend, he registered the company in Minnesota. Lester Brown registered his company Retsel Real Estate in Minnesota during the same period. The men did so, according to court documents, to defraud the Housing Stabilization Services (“HSS”) program, a Medicaid program designed to help people with disabilities and substance abuse problems find and maintain housing.
The two men reached out to their clients by making themselves known at shelters and Minnesota Section 8 housing centers as “The Housing Guys.” They operated their business from offices in downtown Minneapolis, while traveling back and forth from Minnesota to Philadelphia.
Jefferson, according to court documents, generated false documents to submit invoices and hired family members and others to work for Chozen Runner. Some of the messages were written by ChatGPT, according to court documents, and the two men compiled files and submitted documents to HSS about items that did not always occur. They submitted inflated figures and helped each other by consulting with their customers.
The duo claimed approximately $3,568,171 in payments under the HSS program, according to court documents.
Federal prosecutors have been investigating large-scale fraud at several Minnesota programs since dozens of people were indicted and convicted starting in 2022. the Feeding Our Future scandalwhich saw the theft of $250 million in public funds intended to feed children in need. A top prosecutor suggested the total amount of fraud in Minnesota could be $9 billion or more.
