Eight people face federal charges in what prosecutors call the first wave of Housing Stabilization fraud cases. Minnesota launched the Housing Stabilization Services program in July 2022 to help seniors, people with disabilities, and those struggling with mental illness or addiction find and keep housing. 

Investigators say the defendants, as H-S-S providers, set up companies to bill for fake or inflated services, pocketing millions of dollars. On August 1st, the Department of Human Services announced it was terminating the Housing Stabilization benefit within Medicaid, planning to redesign it with stronger safeguards. 

D-H-S has already stopped payments to the defendants companies. The F-B-I and Minnesota B-C-A say the scheme deprived vulnerable Minnesotans of needed services and drained taxpayer resources.