St. Cloud autism center owner pleads guilty in $6 million fraud scheme

Abdinajib Hassan Yussuf, 28, of St. Cloud, was charged with wire fraud in connection with a scheme that started in 2020 and continued through 2024 to defraud the publicly funded Early Intensive Development and Behavioral Intervention. That program offers medically necessary services to people under the age of 21 with autism spectrum disorder and other conditions.

According to charging documents, Yussuf approached parents in the Somali community to recruit their children into Star Autism Center. When children did not have an autism diagnosis, Yussuf and his partners worked to get the recruited child qualified for autism services.

Star Autism Center then used monthly cash kickback payments to parents who enrolled their children, contingent on the services that DHS authorized a child to receive. Parents received a higher kickback dependent on the authorization amount, according to court documents.

Yussuf and his partners submitted millions of dollars worth of claims for Medicaid reimbursement, which were fraudulently inflated and billed without providers’ knowledge, and for services that weren’t provided.

Star Autism Center received more than $6 million of public funds, and Yussuf shared the proceeds with other owners and investors in the business. According to court documents, Yussuf used more than $100,000 in fraud proceeds to purchase a semi-truck and sent more than $200,000 to Kenya.

Yussuf has not yet been sentenced. Star Autism Center had its license suspended in January.