Out‑of‑State 'Fraud Tourists' Plead Guilty in $3.6M Minnesota Medicaid Housing Scam
Feb 10
Developing
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Philadelphia residents Anthony Waddell Jefferson and Lester Brown pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud for a scheme that siphoned about $3.57 million from Minnesota’s Medicaid Housing Stabilization Services by operating Minnesota‑registered firms Chozen Runner and Retsel Real Estate while living in Philly. Prosecutors say the pair marketed themselves as “The Housing Guys,” recruited clients at shelters and Section 8 housing, used ChatGPT to help draft fabricated paperwork, and their convictions are part of a broader federal probe into Minnesota social‑services fraud that includes the Feeding Our Future scandal and estimates of up to $9 billion in total fraud.
Minnesota Social-Services Fraud
Medicaid and Health Care Fraud
Somalian Immigrants