Another child care center raided for Medicaid fraud

Fox 9 News and other media reported a raid on the Baraka Child Care Center in Minneapolis yesterday. State and federal agents participated, including the Secret Service, and while we do not have the underlying documents yet, Fox is standing by its allegations that “government sources” put the fraud at $100 million.

The website for the center is not working but here is the Facebook link (not very active).

Agents from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the Secret Service also took part in this raid. Armed with a search warrant, they confiscated cell phones, computers, and documents…

The state currently has ten centers under investigation suspected of stealing millions in public subsidies meant for low-income families to pay their child care. Multiple government sources tell the Fox 9 investigators the problem is rampant and may be costing Minnesota taxpayers as much as a $100 million a year.

“It’s just widespread and it’s national,” said Steve Hanson, a Special Agent from the Office of Inspector General, U.S. Health and Human Services. “It’s multi state.”

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is also cracking down on the problem. It reports that nationally, in 2015, more than $300 million in improper payments went to daycare providers. Typically, the way this scam works is the fraudsters overbill the government by inflating attendance records.

You can read the story here.