FBI Arrests Nigerians Christopher Falade, Son Emmanuel Over $2.2m Housing Fraud

The United States Department of Justice (DoJ) has charged two Nigerians, Christopher Falade, 62, and his son, Emmanuel Falade, 32, alongside six others, for their alleged involvement in a multimillion-dollar housing fraud scheme in Minnesota.

According to the DoJ, the Falades operated Faladcare Inc., a provider under the state’s Housing Stabilisation Services (HSS) Programme. The programme is designed to support vulnerable individuals with housing consulting, transitioning, and sustaining services.

Instead of providing the services as required, the Falades and their co-conspirators allegedly inflated reimbursement claims, diverting more than $2.2 million into personal use.

“Over the course of years, the Falades and their conspirators created and submitted reimbursement claims that were inflated and fraudulent. By doing so, Faladcare received programme payments far exceeding the HSS services they had actually provided,” the DoJ said in a statement.

The court filings allege that the defendants claimed to have served about 100 beneficiaries, but a significant portion of the funds was misappropriated and shared among their associates, including Faladcare employees.

Others charged in the case include Moktar Hassan Aden (30), Mustafa Dayib Ali (29), Khalid Ahmed Dayib (26), Abdifitah Mohamud Mohamed (27), Asad Ahmed Adow (26), and Anwar Ahmed Adow (25).

Speaking on the development, Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson described the case as “the first wave of charges in a massive fraud in Minnesota’s housing stabilisation programme.”

“It feels never ending,” Thompson said. “I have spent my career as a fraud prosecutor, and the depth of the fraud in Minnesota takes my breath away. The fraud must be stopped.”