TWO Somali immigrant brothers are facing federal prison in the United States after admitting to stealing nearly $4 million from a government program designed to help homeless and vulnerable Americans.
Asad Ahmed Adow, 26, and his younger brother Anwar, 25, pleaded guilty in November 2025 to wire fraud charges after prosecutors proved they systematically looted Minnesota’s Housing Stabilisation Services program through their companies, Leo Human Services and Liberty Plus LLC.
The brothers, who had built lives in Minnesota, diverted funds meant for mentally ill, disabled, and homeless Americans into their own pockets – spending the money on luxury vehicles and real estate investments in Kenya while vulnerable people slept in shelters and cars.
Through Leo Human Services, Asad collected approximately $2.7 million in program funds, falsely claiming to have served about 250 beneficiaries. Anwar’s company, Liberty Plus, received more than $1.2 million for services allegedly provided to approximately 200 people. Federal investigators found that most of these services were never rendered.
The fraud was methodical and calculated. Asad trained employees to manufacture fake service notes documenting help that was never provided and visits that never happened. He instructed workers to “bill as much as they could,” creating a system where inflated hours meant more stolen money flowing through his company.
While operating their fraudulent scheme, the brothers maintained a lavish lifestyle. Asad leased a 2024 BMW X4 and a Roseville apartment. Anwar drove a 2023 Mercedes-Benz CLA. Both invested in Kenyan real estate using funds earmarked for America’s most desperate citizens.
The Adow brothers were not alone in exploiting the program. Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson announced charges against eight defendants in total, describing “schemes stacked upon schemes, draining resources meant for those in need.”
“I have spent my career as a fraud prosecutor, and the depth of the fraud in Minnesota takes my breath away,” Thompson said.
The Housing Stabilisation Services program was launched in July 2022, making Minnesota the first U.S. state to offer Medicaid coverage for housing assistance. Predicted to cost $2.6 million annually, the program instead paid out over $300 million across three years as fraudsters exploited its low entry barriers and minimal documentation requirements.
The scale of theft was so extensive that Minnesota terminated the entire program in October 2025, destroying a critical support system for thousands of vulnerable residents.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Alvin M. Winston Sr. condemned the exploitation: “Fraud in the Housing Stabilisation Services program not only drains money from hardworking taxpayers, it also deprives vulnerable populations of resources to maintain safe housing.”
The investigation, conducted by the FBI, Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, IRS Criminal Investigation, and other agencies, revealed that fraudulent providers acquired names of eligible beneficiaries from facilities like addiction treatment centres, then used that information to submit fake reimbursement claims.
The Adow brothers now face federal prison sentences for wire fraud. Their luxury vehicles will be seized, and their real estate investments—including properties in Kenya—will be forfeited to the U.S. government.
“When criminals selfishly defraud these programs, they are not only committing a crime, but they are depriving others of services that can be life-changing,” said Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans.
The case serves as a cautionary tale about how vulnerable immigrant success stories can turn to criminal enterprise, and how that criminality can poison public trust in programs designed to help society’s most desperate members. The brothers’ guilty pleas mark the beginning of their accountability, but the damage to Minnesota’s housing support system—and to the approximately 450 people whose names were used in fraudulent claims—cannot be undone.
