Minnesota $1 billion fraud scheme used fake addresses, Fox finds

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – As a massive fraud scheme costing state and federal taxpayers at least $1 billion continues to unfold in Minnesota, Fox News Digital visited several locations that received funding through programs like Feeding Our Future and found several inconsistencies revealing the depth of the scandal.

The now-infamous Griggs-Midway Building housed an “unusual concentration” of fraudulent entities involved in the HSS system, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson.

Twenty-two “businesses” linked to the RSS program were registered at this location alone. Thompson described these entities as “pure shell companies created solely to defraud the system.”

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

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An in-person investigation by Fox News Digital of the building, located in St. Paul, Minnesota, showed large swaths of the south side of the building completely abandoned. A black and white banner advertising open spaces in the building was adorned atop the “Griggs-Midway Building” sign.

Several men were sitting together and talking at the entrance to the building. When approached, they told Fox News Digital they did not speak English.

However, the west 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.

The Griggs-Midway building has become a focal point of Minnesota’s HSS fraud scandal. (Nikolas Lanum/Fox News Digital)

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 more than $2.3 million of the $8 million in fraudulent claims originating from the Griggs-Midway location, ranking last year among the highest-billing HSS providers in the state.

Four accused, Moktar Hassan Aden, 30 years old; Mustafa Dayib Ali, 29 years old; Khalid Ahmed Dayib, 26 years old; Abdifitah Mohamud Mohamed, 27, was charged in this fraud case. Mohamed owned one of the other fraudulent companies involved, Foundation First Services LLC.

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Another location of misrepresentation took Fox News Digital to a walk-up floor above a sushi shop a few blocks from the Mississippi River.

The entrance was locked and it was unclear whether the fraudster had simply used the address to keep his distance, or whether he was actually at the unit number listed on the claim.

The second floor showed few signs of life. However, one window displayed a sign “No Kings, No Fascists” overlooking the snowy city street.

A large, uniform reddish-brown brick building known as “Winsor Plaza” was the next destination on Fox News Digital’s trek through an impending snowstorm in Minnesota.

The building’s simple, box-like shape was centered by a red awning projecting from the structure’s main entrance. A whitewater tower with “Roseville” painted in red letters rose in the distance through the fog. Inside, a directory featured dozens of legitimate businesses, including doctor’s offices and wealth management services.

A search of the quiet hallways of 1935 W County Road resulted in some confusion. Unit 150, the office space listed on the false declaration, was nowhere to be found. It appeared that in the current configuration of the building, the suite simply did not exist. Not only was the claim fraudulent, but so was the address.

A similar situation occurred at 9120 Baltimore St N. The claim report stated that the fraudulent entity was operating out of Suite 100. Upon arrival, 9120 was seen attached to a stone pillar in the center of a commercial parking lot.

However, there was no conglomeration of office spaces or apartments, no numbers plastered on different storefronts. A single, unique and operational dental practice. Another apparently fraudulent address.

NorthPark Dental in Blaine, Minnesota appears to be a legitimate and operational business. There is no unit 100 at this location, suggesting that the alleged fraudulent entity gave a false address. (Nikolas Lanum/Fox News Digital)

The trend broke at the next two sites.

2756 Douglas Dr N is a business address in Crystal, Minnesota, home to 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 the A and B suites of the building but are not the fraudulent entities listed on the location claims. A real building, with real businesses, but a fake business that never seemed to exist in this space.

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Another stop, 1541 Como Ave, was found in a narrow alley in St. Paul, Minnesota. The address housed a small rusty garage attached to the back of a church. The garage seemed empty, with no mailboxes or trash cans.

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

Several men working at a nearby local business told Fox News Digital that a man named “John” used the location for a small pop-up gym and fitness center. He was often seen driving around in a luxury car. There was no indication whether this location was the legitimate operational center of the fraudulent claim.

4601 E 54th St, another location linked 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 this street, only 500s.

Another location, 2720 E Lake St, was completely closed and covered in graffiti with a homeless man sleeping out front. The building appears to have been unusable for a long period of time.

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“Most of that $500 million didn’t go to serving a single meal, and some of the simple things are if they had just gone into the establishments, you know, you hear about thousands of people being served out of an apartment twice a day, all they would have to do is show up and watch it,” Republican Minnesota State Sen. Mark Koran told Fox News Digital about the fraud that’s taking place. was hiding in plain sight in Minneapolis.

“There was a legislative auditor report that showed that 30 property owners where these businesses claim to operate, contacted the Department of Education that runs the program, and they told them 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 filed this complaint with the nonprofit Feeding Our Future to address these issues, and the Department of Education continued to pay millions to these thirty people with a simple, blatant process of ‘We’ve been told they don’t exist’ and they dismissed it and ignored it.”