"How many decades do they get to carry on for and how many Minnesotan's bodies and lives have to be generationally destroyed before we call this statewide systemic racketeering scheme, headed by the states largest agency what it is? I'm tired of being systematically murdered a slow-day at a time while everyone in government hides my existence and the evidence—while white Minnesotans continue profit in wealth, reputation and promotion."
The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS), an agency entrusted with protecting the state’s most vulnerable residents, is facing serious accusations. Amid a sweeping federal investigation revealing nearly $1 billion in fraud, DHS leadership is under fire not for rooting out corruption—but for enabling and rewarding it.
Despite high-profile scandals and mounting taxpayer losses, not a single commissioner or senior official has been held publicly accountable. Instead, they've been promoted, reassigned, or quietly exited with reputations intact.
This is not failure. It’s a design.
A House of Cards: DHS Under Federal Scrutiny
In July 2025, Acting U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson revealed what many whistleblowers have alleged for years: Minnesota’s human services system is riddled with widespread fraud, particularly within Medicaid and the Housing Stabilization Services program. The numbers are staggering: over $500 million in active prosecutions, and potentially double that amount still under investigation.
In response, DHS moved to shut down the Housing Stabilization program and freeze payments—actions presented as decisive. But critics say these are just PR tactics designed to mask long-standing structural corruption.
Why? Because the people in charge during the fraud haven’t been removed or held accountable—they’ve been promoted.
Shireen Gandhi: From Oversight to Promotion
At the center of the current scandal is Shireen Gandhi, who served as Deputy Commissioner for Agency Effectiveness—the very role responsible for internal oversight—during the exact period the family stabilization fraud occurred.
Rather than facing disciplinary action, Gandhi was promoted to Temporary Commissioner of DHS, tasked with managing the fallout of a program failure she oversaw.
This is not an anomaly—it’s the pattern.
Commissioners Rewarded, Not Investigated
A review of the past 16 years reveals a deeply embedded culture of fraud concealment, aided by top-level leadership.
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Jodi Harpstead, commissioner under Governor Tim Walz, faced internal allegations of misconduct and mismanagement. Instead of accountability, the agency's solution was to restructure—a move that removed no wrongdoers and changed no oversight systems.
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Emily Piper Johnson, who preceded Harpstead under Governor Mark Dayton, oversaw the agency during an estimated $1 billion in fraud. Her “solution”? Create the 800-MAARC hotline—marketed as a step toward transparency, but in reality, routed abuse reports back into the same DHS and secreted process that's always been, eliminating external oversight.
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Lucinda Jesson, commissioner during the 2009 Jensen v. Minnesota DHS lawsuit, was found responsible for overseeing an agency that permitted physical and psychological abuse, financial exploitation, and the forcible confinement of people in state facilities. She was later elevated to a state judgeship.
Each of these commissioners left with promotions, while DHS retained 100% control over internal investigations, data access, and decisions on whether to act on abuse reports. No independent body has authority to override DHS on abuse or fraud.
DHS: A System Built to Protect Itself
DHS is both operator and regulator. It investigates its own misconduct, chooses what to report, and controls all access to abuse data. There is no first-hand reporting system available to the public or program participants.
This means:
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Victims of fraud and abuse cannot directly file reports outside of DHS.
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Media and watchdogs cannot independently verify complaints.
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Those who expose wrongdoing are often ignored, punished, or discredited.
Even as fraud has grown more sophisticated, DHS has remained insulated—politically protected, legally self-regulated, and financially bloated.
What the Federal Investigation Exposes
This isn’t just about Medicaid. It’s about a systemic structure of collusion, in which DHS functions as both gatekeeper and guardian of its own secrets.
The recent fraud cases, now under FBI and U.S. Attorney scrutiny, only affirm what insiders and victims have known for decades:
“DHS does this all the time. These fraud busts are just political theater when the state’s in a financial bind. They use it to claw back money—but no one ever goes to jail at the top.” — Internally Displaced Person
Minnesota lawmakers, including House Republicans and Rep. Kristin Robbins, are now demanding a federal audit and calling for external oversight, but even this may be too little, too late.
Accountability or Collapse
No private corporation or nonprofit could survive this level of repeated fraud and mismanagement. Yet DHS, a public institution funded by taxpayers and tasked with care for society’s most vulnerable, has done so for nearly two decades without interruption.
And in return? Promotions, not prosecution. Secrecy, not transparency. Power, not punishment.
Minnesota must decide: protect the people, or protect the perpetrators.
Because when a government agency self-regulates without accountability, it ceases to be public service—it becomes organized misconduct.
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