Minnesota Woman Charged in $14M Autism Fraud, Plans Plea

Federal prosecutors charged 28-year-old Asha Farhan Hassan with wire fraud for allegedly using her company Smart Therapy LLC to bill more than $14 million to Minnesota’s Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention (EIDBI) autism program and to participate in the pandemic-era Feeding Our Future scheme, for which she allegedly received about $465,000. Charging documents say Hassan recruited families (including in the Somali community), paid monthly kickbacks of $300–$1,500 per child to keep kids enrolled, hired unqualified staff including teen relatives as behavioral technicians, submitted inflated or fake claims, and used some taxpayer money to buy real estate in Kenya. Investigators from the FBI, HHS-OIG, IRS-CI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service executed raids and search warrants that prompted Minnesota’s Department of Human Services to stop payments and tighten oversight, including screening visits, billing limits and a planned provider licensing system in 2026. Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson said this is the first prosecution in a broader probe linking autism-center fraud to other schemes and that prosecutors expect additional charges as they unravel a network of fraud. Hassan’s attorney says she is cooperating with investigators and plans to plead guilty, and state officials say the case has created uncertainty for some families who legitimately used services and underscored the need for stronger safeguards after a rapid rise in autism-related Medicaid payments.