Secretary Duffy, Meet Nick Shirley and MEISA. How DOT Fits Into Minnesota's Billion-Dollar Fraud Scandal

Nick Shirley exposed the ghost daycares. But the transportation company filling those seats has a fraud-flagged DOT record and principals facing federal charges. Secretary Duffy should take a look.

The transportation company that delivered children to Minnesota daycares under a fraud investigation kicked off by Journalist Nick Shirley may have a bigger tie to transportation than you might think. The passenger company is operated by siblings who were federally charged in 2020 for billing Arizona’s Medicaid program for 9,000 medical transport trips that never occurred, according to federal court records and state corporate filings reviewed by The Rob Report.

MEISA Transportation Services LLC vehicles were among those that arrived at Quality Learning Center and other Minneapolis-area daycares on Dec. 29, dropping off dozens of children shortly before state auditors conducted site visits. The daycares had mainly appeared empty in viral video footage recorded days earlier by independent journalist Nick Shirley.

The company’s principal officer, Abedelhalim Lawabni, and his sister, Nohad Loabneh, were charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona on May 27, 2020, with conspiring to commit healthcare fraud. Federal prosecutors alleged the siblings falsely billed Arizona’s Health Care Cost Containment System for non-emergency medical transports that never happened, generating $2.75 million in fraudulent Medicaid payments.

Loabneh remains listed as manager of MEISA Integrated Services LLC in Minnesota, according to Secretary of State records. That company was administratively terminated in January 2025, amid ongoing federal investigations into Minnesota social services fraud, and was reinstated five months later in July 2025.

The connection between federally charged healthcare fraud defendants and the transportation of children to daycares now under investigation raises urgent questions about whether MEISA represents the logistics backbone of what the FBI has characterized as potentially the largest social services fraud in American history.

The trail begins in Arizona.

On May 27, 2020, U.S. Attorney Michael Bailey announced criminal complaints against multiple individuals for healthcare fraud related to COVID-19. Press release 2020-053 named Lawabni and Loabneh alongside co-defendant Abdul Raheem Abdul Jabbar.

“The complaint alleges that Abdul Jabbar, Loabneh, and Lawabni falsely billed Arizona’s Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) for more than 9,000 non-emergency medical transports in April 2020 when those transports never occurred,” the release stated. “Loabneh and Lawabni own and operate A&N Services, LLC.”

The siblings’ alleged fraud exploited the COVID-19 public health emergency. After Arizona’s governor and the Navajo Nation president declared emergencies, the need for non-emergency medical transports dropped dramatically. Prosecutors alleged the defendants continued billing for thousands of trips anyway.

The defendants were scheduled for initial court appearances in June 2020. No public records of conviction or dismissal have been located.

Fifteen hundred miles away in Minnesota, the same names appear on state corporate filings.

MEISA Transportation Services LLC was filed with the Minnesota Secretary of State on March 25, 2009, under file number 3269215-2. The listed manager is Heslon Kagaruki, with a registered office at 8818 North Brook Ave. N in Brooklyn Park.

But federal motor carrier records tell a different story about who actually controls the company.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s SAFER database lists Abed Lawabni as the primary officer of MEISA Transportation Services LLC under DOT number 2342235. The phone number on the FMCSA filing is 612-454-4175. The email address is A.LAWABNI@MEISAGROUP.COM.

That same phone number, 612-454-4175, appears in the Minnesota Department of Health’s 2012 directory of licensed healthcare facilities under MEISA Support Services LLC, and the listed owner: Mr. Abedelhalim Lawabni.

The fax number on that 2012 listing, 612-454-4176, matches the fax number on MEISA Transportation’s minority business enterprise certification, which lists Kagaruki as the contact.

The pattern suggests nominee ownership, Kagaruki’s name appears on state filings and certifications while Lawabni controls the operational infrastructure through shared phone lines, fax numbers and email domains.

Two days after Loabneh and Lawabni’s Arizona filing date, Loabneh filed MEISA Integrated Services LLC with the Minnesota Secretary of State under file number 3273259-2. She is listed as the manager.

The mailing address on that filing is 16323 Ridgeline Drive in Fountain Hills, Ariz., the same Fountain Hills where Loabneh was selling a $9 million mansion. Apparently, he made his fortune by developing technology that tracks the pickup and transport of Medicaid patients, who have suffered from inefficiencies and fraud.

MEISA Integrated Services was administratively terminated on Jan. 13, 2025, according to Secretary of State records. The company was reinstated on July 31, 2025, and then filed a change of registered office on Aug. 29, 2025.

The termination occurred as federal investigators were already examining Minnesota’s social services programs following the Feeding Our Future prosecution, which resulted in more than 40 convictions for a $250 million pandemic food fraud scheme.

Federal motor carrier records reveal a pattern compliance experts call “chameleon carrier” operations.

FMCSA’s SAFER system shows two MEISA Transportation Services LLCs registered in Minnesota. The first, DOT 3032860 with MC authority 40355, is listed as inactive with no officer name and no email address on the record.

The second, DOT 2342235, remains active with Lawabni listed as the primary officer. Both carriers share the same phone number, 612-454-4175.

The Minnesota Secretary of State filing history shows MEISA Transportation Services LLC was administratively terminated on Aug. 3, 2012, then reinstated on Aug. 28, 2012. The FMCSA record for DOT 2342235 shows a company start date of Sept. 12, 2012, two weeks after the state reinstatement.

Chameleon carriers accumulate violations, enforcement actions, or fraud allegations under one authority, close it, then reopen with new credentials while maintaining operational control. The shared phone number between the fraud-flagged inactive carrier and the currently operating carrier is a hallmark of such operations.

The active carrier’s MCS-150 form, the biennial registration required of all motor carriers under 49 CFR 390.19, was last updated on Sept. 9, 2013. The company has operated for more than 12 years without updating its federal registration, a clear regulatory violation.

FMCSA records show zero roadside inspections of MEISA vehicles in the past 24 months.

The MEISA corporate network spans healthcare and transportation across both states.

Loabneh and Lawabni founded MEISA Care Group in 2009, according to a press release from senior services provider Ecumen. The organization opened what was described as America’s first Muslim Adult Day Services Center in Minneapolis.

Adult day services is one of 14 programs the Walz administration has identified as high-risk for fraud. Non-emergency medical transportation is another.

The siblings’ Minnesota holdings include MEISA Transportation Services LLC, MEISA Integrated Services LLC, and MEISA Support Services LLC. Their Arizona holdings included A&N Services LLC, the company federal prosecutors alleged they used to bill for nonexistent medical transports.

The same family controls entities operating in multiple high-risk Medicaid fraud categories while facing unresolved federal charges for defrauding Medicaid in another state.

The connection to Minnesota’s daycare fraud investigation emerged in independent journalist Nick Shirley’s viral video, which has been viewed more than 100 million times across platforms.

Shirley visited Minneapolis-area daycares during weekday business hours and found facilities licensed for dozens of children sitting empty. One facility, Quality Learning Center at 1411 Nicollet Ave. S. is licensed for 99 children and received $1.9 million in Child Care Assistance Program funding in 2025 alone, with $4 million total in recent years.

Shirley’s research partner, identified only as “David,” began his investigation after noticing “childless day-care centers and drivers for a ‘non-emergency medical transportation’ service based near his office that never carried any passengers.”

The observation mirrors the exact fraud scheme alleged against the Lawabni siblings in Arizona, in which they billed Medicaid for transportation services that never occurred.

On Dec. 29, after Shirley’s video went viral and state officials announced site visits, vans arrived at Quality Learning Center and other facilities, dropping off children before auditors arrived. Parking lots that appeared empty in Shirley’s footage were suddenly full.

Those vans belonged to MEISA Transportation Services.

The Quality Learning Center itself has a troubled corporate history.

The company, filed under number 942032100020 with CEO Siman Jama Aden, has been administratively dissolved twice, on March 15, 2019, and Feb. 12, 2021, before being reinstated each time. Administrative dissolution occurs when companies fail to file required annual reports.

State licensing records show Quality Learning Center accumulated 95 violations between 2019 and 2023, including failure to keep hazardous items away from children and missing records for 16 children. The facility operated under a conditional license in 2022.

A company that cannot maintain state corporate filings has been entrusted with 99 children and millions in taxpayer funds.

The FBI has surged personnel and investigative resources to Minnesota following Shirley’s video, according to statements from FBI Director Kash Patel. Vice President JD Vance has also commented on the investigation.

Minnesota’s fraud exposure extends far beyond daycares. The Walz administration has identified 14 high-risk Medicaid programs, including non-emergency medical transportation, adult day services, personal care assistance, housing stabilization and autism therapy services. Estimates of total fraud exposure range into the billions.

A moratorium on new adult day services providers remains in effect through 2028. The state contracted with Optum for pre-payment review of high-risk claims.

Yet companies controlled by individuals facing federal healthcare fraud charges continue to operate across multiple high-risk categories.

Several questions demand answers from investigators.

What contracts exist between MEISA Transportation and Minnesota daycares, adult day centers or other social service providers? What has MEISA billed Medicaid for, and do those billings reflect services actually rendered?

Why was MEISA Integrated Services terminated in January 2025, at the height of fraud investigations, then reinstated five months later? What triggered the termination and what was required for reinstatement?

What is Heslon Kagaruki’s actual relationship to the Lawabni family? Is he an employee, a partner or a nominee whose name appears on paperwork while others maintain operational control?

What is the current status of the Arizona federal case? Were Loabneh and Lawabni convicted, did they enter plea agreements, or does the case remain pending? If they are convicted felons, how are they permitted to operate federally funded programs?

FMCSA should conduct an immediate compliance review of DOT 2342235. A carrier operating with 12-year-old registration data, zero inspections and a fraud-flagged sister company should not be transporting children.

The documents tell a clear story.

Federal prosecutors charged the Lawabni siblings with billing for 9,000 medical transport trips that never happened. State corporate filings show they control transportation and healthcare companies in Minnesota. Phone and fax records connect entities that appear separate on paper. FMCSA records show a chameleon carrier pattern with one authority fraud-flagged and closed, while another operates under the same phone number.

An independent researcher observed NEMT vehicles near his office that never carried passengers, a pattern of fraud also alleged in Arizona and when auditors came to empty daycares, MEISA vans arrived with children.

The question is not whether fraud exists in Minnesota. The FBI has confirmed it could exceed $9 billion.

The question is whether investigators are looking at the logistics infrastructure that makes such fraud possible, the transportation network that moves bodies to fill empty seats, bills Medicaid for trips that never occur, and cycles through corporate shells while its principals face federal charges.

The paper trail has been laid out. The phone numbers match. The addresses connect. The pattern is documented.

Now someone needs to follow the vans.

Primary Sources

U.S. Department of Justice, District of Arizona, Press Release 2020-053, May 27, 2020

Minnesota Secretary of State Business Filings: MEISA Transportation Services LLC (File 3269215-2), MEISA Integrated Services LLC (File 3273259-2), Quality Learning Center Inc. (File 942032100020)

FMCSA SAFER System: DOT 2342235, DOT 3032860/MC 40355

Minnesota Department of Health, 2012 Directory of Licensed, Certified and Registered Health Care Facilities

Minnesota Unified Certification Program, MBE/SBE Record

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