The FBI served search warrants Thursday at two autism treatment providers, as part of a wide-ranging Medicaid fraud investigation first reported by the Reformer in June.

The search warrants were served at Smart Therapy Center in Minneapolis and Star Autism in St. Cloud.

FBI Special Agent Kurt Beulke wrote in an unsealed warrant application that the state autism program has exploded in both the number of providers and cost in recent years: “The investigation has found substantial evidence that many of these companies have been submitting fraudulent claims for (autism) services that were not actually provided or that were not covered.”

According to the warrant application, employees of Smart Therapy were “18 or 19-year old relatives of the owners who had no formal education beyond high school and no training or certification related to the treatment of autism.” Many of the children did not appear to be autistic, according to a witness. The same witness said they believed parents were being paid to bring their children as part of the scheme.

Both Smart Therapy and Star Autism billed the state even when the provider — who was ostensibly giving treatment to a child on the autism spectrum — was out of the country, according to the warrant.