Kristin Robbins, a Minnesota state representative and Republican gubernatorial hopeful, has exposed what she says is massive fraud in the state’s assisted living payments, flagging contractors who are still collecting public funds despite indictment ties to other schemes. Her oversight committee detailed properties, payment trails, and a network of providers that, she argues, slipped through basic checks and balance systems. This development widens a fraud picture that has already rocked the state and prompted federal reviews.
During a recent hearing, Robbins and her committee turned a spotlight on adult daycare and assisted living payments, arguing these programs are now part of a broader fraud map. The hearing pulled together documents and property connections that, according to Robbins, show the same players moving between programs and siphoning taxpayer money. The timing comes as other probes and congressional inquiries press Minnesota officials for answers.
Robbins specifically pointed to individuals tied to previous schemes who are still getting state dollars, including one person labeled “FOF Defendant” who faces indictment in the Feeding the Future case yet appears in assisted living payment records. In a concise presentation she traced property ownership, payouts, and affiliated businesses, calling the pattern an “unbelievable” network that evaded oversight. Those revelations are being passed to federal prosecutors for follow-up.
Here is the recorded committee hearing that aired as part of the investigative session.
Robbins did not hold back when discussing how simple checks might have stopped this. “I bring this to your attention because despite months of hearings, we continue to miss the most basic internal controls and the most basic checks and balances when we are enrolling providers,” she said, stressing that this is only one network among several the researchers uncovered. That blunt assessment underscores a larger complaint about systemwide laxity.
She also expressed frustration that obvious red flags weren’t used to block payments. “I just find it unconscionable that they, the department didn’t run a basic check of all these Feeding Our Future people who’ve been indicted or convicted, and make sure that they weren’t getting state money in other programs,” Robbins said, pointing a finger at agency leadership. Her conclusion: the problem isn’t creative fraud schemes so much as failure to do routine vetting.
The scandal has already drawn federal attention and triggered multiple reviews, and Robbins predicts more trouble will surface as investigators dig deeper. “I expect there will be more fraud uncovered in those sectors. And I’m assuming it’s happening in other states. as we’ve seen, there is a similar fraud going on in Maine, and I’m sure many other states. And so I think all agencies around the country need to be attuned to this and need to look at the programs,” she warned, urging other states to look closely at assisted living and adult care payments.
Republican leaders in Minnesota say this is a failure of oversight that goes to the top. Robbins, who plans to run for governor, says she will hand her findings to the U.S. Attorney to ensure federal investigators get a full and unfiltered look at the payment trails. That move signals an effort to elevate the response beyond state-level politicking and force accountability through tougher scrutiny.
Federal agencies have already started probing related funding streams and nonprofit networks tied to the broader scandal, and Congress has opened inquiries into state actions. The Department of Health and Human Services requested extensive records to review how federal social service dollars were used, and members of Congress are pressing for answers about how widespread these failures might be. The growing national profile of the case has turned local oversights into a matter of federal concern.
The sharp critique from Robbins and allied Republicans frames the issue as preventable and plainly negligent, not merely the result of sophisticated criminality. “And it’s not high finance. It’s basic internal controls that they should be doing.” That line captures the argument: the system failed at simple, routine steps that would have stopped many of these payments. With federal investigators now involved, Minnesota faces pressure to explain how these gaps occurred and to fix them fast.
Another prominent voice weighing in demanded accountability from the governor’s office. “You have been Minnesota’s Governor since 2019,” one federal official wrote, “During that time, your careless lack of oversight and abuse of the welfare system has attracted fraudsters from around the world, especially from Somalia, to establish a beachhead of criminality in our country. As President Trump put it, you have turned Minnesota into a ‘fraudulent hub of money laundering activity.’”
