Minnesota Audit: Agency’s ‘Fraud’ Definition Mistakenly Omitted Kickbacks

Payments to suspected fraudsters continued because of an error that has remained uncorrected since 1995, the Office of Legislative Auditor found.

A view outside the Minnesota State Capitol building in Minneapolis, Minn., on June 20, 2020. Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

A state agency erred when it blocked autism-services kickbacks from being investigated—a decision based on the agency’s flawed, decades-old definition of “fraud,” according to a Minnesota audit released March 17.

That was the key finding of the state’s Office of Legislative Auditor, a state watchdog that conducted a two-year special review. The autism-services program that auditors examined is among many health and welfare benefits that Minnesota’s Department of Human Services runs or oversees.