From KARE-11,
After weeks of gridlock, Inspector General bill to fight fraud finally advances in Minnesota House.
You may recall that a similar bill, to create an office of inspector general for all of state government, passed the full state senate on a lop-sided, bipartisan 60-7 vote. In the state house, I guess it’s a case of third time’s the charm,
The measure failed to advance out of its first committee stop on two different occasions because of disagreements over the cost and structure of the Office of Inspector General (OIG).
But now, it’s on to the House Judiciary committee for further deliberation.
Another important anti-fraud measure moved forward last week. Rep. Andrew Myers’ HF 4425 was heard in the Public Safety committee on Wednesday. The bill by Myers (R-45A) would increase the number of years the state has to charge for crimes and to claw back money stolen in Medicaid fraud from 6 years to 10 years.
Why is this important? Because it takes that long. Consider the timeline of the (non-Medicaid) fraud Feeding Our Future. Money was stolen from the federal child nutrition program back in 2020 and 2021. The famous FBI raids took place in January 2022. The first indictments were announced in September 2022.
The first courtroom trial took place in 2024. The most recent indictments came in late 2025. There is a federal ten-year statute of limitations, so we fully expect future indictments in 2026 and beyond.
Forfeiture proceedings are running in parallel to the criminal cases. We are already six years from the start of the Feeding fraud, with more courtroom trials scheduled through the end of the year,.
The state prosecutes similar fraud cases involving Medicaid and the state’s Medical Assistance program. The Myers bill would give state prosecutors more time charge and claw back your money from convicted fraudsters.
Thankfully, HF 4425 was passed by the committee and sent directly to the House floor for consideration by the whole chamber. Fingers crossed.
The state legislature is now on a two-week spring break.
But we have very busy two weeks coming in in the Feeding Our Future fraud case in federal court. Here are just some of the events on the calendar,
On Monday (March 30) we should see the 64th conviction in the free-food fraud case, from coincidentally Defendant No. 64.
Stay tuned!
