HHS freezes Minnesota childcare funds amid fraud claims
The federal Department of Health and Human Services froze all childcare payments to Minnesota, citing what it calls ‘blatant fraud’ at state daycares.
Federal and state law enforcement executed search warrants in Minnesota early on April 28 in connection with an ongoing fraud probe that has embroiled the state, officials said.
The FBI and other agencies engaged in court-authorized activity as part of a fraud investigation, the Department of Justice confirmed. The agencies involved include the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations.
“If you commit fraud in Minnesota you’re going to get caught – and that’s exactly what we saw today,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said. “Today’s raids by state and federal law enforcement happened because our state agencies caught irregular behavior and reported it. That’s how…
THE HASHFLARE “CLOUD MINING” PONZI SCHEME (GLOBAL/ESTONIA)
Date: February 13, 2025 (Guilty Pleas) Perpetrators: Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turogin
Case Description: This $577 million cryptocurrency fraud remains one of the largest digital asset scams in history, with major legal developments concluding in 2025. Potapenko and Turogin operated “Hashflare,” which they marketed as a massive cryptocurrency mining operation. Hundreds of thousands of victims worldwide purchased “mining contracts,” believing they were renting hash power to mine Bitcoin. In reality, the duo was running a sophisticated Ponzi scheme.
They created fake customer dashboards that showed “real-time” mining profits, but the money being paid out was simply the capital of newer investors. They laundered the proceeds through shell companies to purchase luxury real estate and a fleet of high-end vehicles. After a massive international investigation involving the FBI and Estonian authorities, the pair agreed to forfeit over $400 million in assets. This case underscores the “Cyber-enabled Fraud” warning issued by the FATF in early 2026: as technology evolves, the scale of fraud moves from local millions to global billions in the blink of an eye.
Link to Original: ACFE – High Profile Fraud of 2025