New Medicaid fraud added to ScandalTracker 2025
The state Attorney General, Keith Ellison, announced a new Medicaid prosecution involving $7.3 million and five felony counts. The defendant is named as Chavis Willis.
Mr. Willis stands accused of stealing the $7.3 million through the state’s personal care assistance program (PCA) through his mother’s straw ownership of a company called 1-0 Granny’s Helpful Hands LLC.
According to records maintained by the MN Secretary of State’s office, 1-0 Granny’s was incorporated in 2012 and has an office in Minneapolis. The Attorney General reports:
Willis was previously convicted of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and therefore barred from owning, managing, or operating any Medicaid-funded business.
Yikes! The Attorney General includes more information about the Willis murder conviction in its complaint in the Medicaid case (p. 5, paragraph III.A.). According to state court records, the murder took place on December 15, 1999. Due to the age of the case, no underlying documents are available online. Court records indicate that Willis had an earlier conviction in a felony case for “terroristic threats” in 1996.
The A.G.’s press release indicates that Willis worked with an accomplice (not the mother) who has since pled guilty for her role in the scheme. The A.G.’s complaint (p. 3) indicates that this accomplice has, herself, two prior felony convictions.
In a related civil case filed late in 2024 (Christmas Day), Willis appears to be suing his former attorney in the Medicaid matter. In a perhaps unrelated matter, the previous day (Christmas Eve), Willis and his mother sued another company on behalf of a different corporate entity they both own. Corporate records indicate that Willis and/or his mother are involved in as many as ten (10) separate corporate entities shown active in Minnesota.
In the Medicaid case, court records indicate that Willis has been issued a summons to appear on January 27 in Hennepin County court.
Adding in the Willis case to the ScandalTracker 2025TM database pushes the six-year total (tracking the Tim Walz administration) to more than $552 million.
