St. Cloud Star Autism Center Owner Yussuf Pleads Guilty in $6M Fraud

Abdinajib Hassan Yussuf, founder and CEO of Star Autism Center at Midtown Square Mall, 3333 W. Division St. in St. Cloud, pleaded guilty March 2, 2026 to one federal count of wire fraud after prosecutors say the clinic billed and received more than $6 million through Minnesota’s Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention program. Sentencing has not yet been scheduled in U.S. District Court.

Federal charging documents and the U.S. Attorney’s Office trace the alleged scheme to late 2020 and say it continued through December 2024, targeting the publicly funded EIDBI benefit for medically necessary services for children under 21 with autism spectrum disorder. Yussuf was originally charged on Dec. 17 and entered the guilty plea this month in the District of Minnesota.

Prosecutors say Star Autism recruited children, particularly by approaching parents in St. Cloud’s Somali community, and that when children lacked an autism diagnosis Yussuf and partners “worked to get the recruited child qualified for autism services.” The U.S. Attorney’s Office described the recruitment strategy and alleged incentives: “As a recruitment tactic to drive up enrollment, Star Autism (allegedly) paid monthly cash kickback payments to parents who enrolled their children to receive EIDBI services through Star Autism. The amount of these payments was contingent on the services DHS authorized a child to receive — the higher the authorization amount, the higher the kickback.”

Court paperwork also alleges Star Autism billed Medicaid and third-party payers such as UCare for one-on-one EIDBI therapy while employing unqualified staff. The complaint describes behavioral technicians who were often 18- or 19-year-old relatives with no formal education beyond high school and no training or certifications related to the treatment of autism, even as the clinic claimed to provide intensive therapeutic services.

Prosecutors say the scheme generated more than $6 million in reimbursed funds from the Minnesota Department of Human Services and UCare. Charging documents and local reporting state Yussuf personally used more than $100,000 of those proceeds to purchase a Freightliner semi-truck and wired more than $200,000 to Kenya, and that he shared proceeds with other owners and investors tied to the business.

Law enforcement and administrative actions have followed. Federal agents raided Star Autism Center in 2024 alongside a separate clinic, Smart Therapy Center, and Minnesota’s Department of Human Services suspended the Star Autism Center license in January; public listings show the business closed Dec. 31, 2025. Prosecutors note the investigation into autism centers grew from broader probes of Medicaid fraud in the state that have prompted federal scrutiny of payments.

The wider federal response has already affected state funding: federal officials paused $259 million in Medicaid payments to Minnesota, a move Gov. Tim Walz called “totally illegal and unprecedented.” In St. Cloud, parents recruited for services, workers named in charging documents, and other owners and investors cited by prosecutors will be central to ongoing discovery as the case moves toward sentencing.

Yussuf’s plea limits the immediate trial schedule, but prosecutors’ allegations about payments to Kenya, the Freightliner purchase, and shared proceeds with other owners remain part of the federal record; sentencing in U.S. District Court will determine forfeiture, restitution, and penalties. investigators continue to pursue related leads tied to the EIDBI reimbursements.