Where Is the Money Going? What I Saw Outside Autism Sibs Universe
By Ty Bass, Republican candidate for Congress, Minnesota’s 3rd District
First, I want to say something that matters to me. I respect the Plymouth Police Department. The officers I dealt with that day were professional, and they were doing their job, which is more than a lot of people are willing to do. This post is not a complaint about them. I’m writing it because of why I was standing outside that building in the first place.
Why I was there
I was filming a video outside Autism Sibs Universe in Plymouth, Minnesota. I wanted to be transparent with the public about what I’ve seen and learned. I’m not a stranger to this organization. I did contracting work for them, including drywall, and I’ve had my own dealings with the people who run it. Recently a whistleblower came forward and told me more about how these facilities operate. That conversation, combined with what I had already seen firsthand, is what brought me there.
While I was outside filming, I was given a trespass citation. I’m sharing that openly. A citation is not a conviction, and I’ll deal with it through the proper process. What I won’t do is stay quiet about what led me there.
What I saw and what I was told
I’m going to be careful here. I’m telling you what I witnessed and what was said to me, and I’m asking questions that I believe deserve answers from the people with the power to audit.
The salary conversation. Amrish Patel, who serves as treasurer of the organization, told me he had convinced the owner, Indu, to give him his entire salary up front so that he could hire me to do a garage project at his home. When I heard that, I had serious concerns. As a taxpayer, I wondered what an arrangement like that means for an organization funded largely by public dollars. It was one of several red flags, and I quit the drywall job I’d been hired to do.
The real estate. According to Mr. Patel, buying townhomes and other homes in and around Plymouth and then renting them to the nonprofit is Indu’s business plan. If that’s accurate, the questions are obvious. Who owns these properties? Whose money bought them? And is a publicly funded nonprofit paying rent that covers the mortgages on assets owned by the people who run it? That is the kind of arrangement an auditor should look at closely.
Original Video
The empty facilities. I have been to these locations on numerous days and at many different hours. What I saw was workers, and not the vulnerable adults these programs exist to serve.
- ASU Center, 3650 Annapolis Ln N, Suite 107/110, Plymouth, MN 55447. This is a roughly 10,000 square foot facility, and I also worked there. On every visit it appeared empty of clients. I was told the space rents for about $10,000 a month. [Verify against the lease or public records before publishing.]
- 4107 54th Ave N, Plymouth, MN 55446. I was taken to this home. I was told no one is staying there yet, yet money is being spent to equip it and make it look ready. I was shown plexiglass being installed on the bedroom walls so that if a resident becomes angry, the walls won’t be damaged.
- 3335 Minnesota Ln N, Plymouth. The same pattern. I was there multiple days and times, and it appeared empty. This location has the same plexiglass setup.
The vehicle. The organization bought a motorhome, which I understand to be in the $60,000 to $80,000 range, rather than a school bus. My understanding is that when vulnerable adults are transported, they must be seat-belted. This motorhome has two seatbelts. I’m asking whether that complies with the law, and whether it’s an appropriate purchase with public money.
Staffing. The whistleblower told me that the employees who monitor these homes don’t have the training required to care for the people living there. I can’t verify that myself, which is exactly why it needs an independent look.
The money
According to ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer and CauseIQ, this organization has taken in well over a million dollars in public funding. I’m told it received about $1.9 million in just the last year. Propublica Website.
The services listed include personal training, massage therapy and art. I was told the personal training and massage therapy are provided by Mr. Patel himself. I’ve never seen personal training happening at these locations, and I’ve seen very little massage therapy. I’m a personal trainer. I run At Home Fitness MN and I know what delivering that service looks like.
So the question I’m putting to the state and the county is simple. Is the government being billed for services that aren’t being delivered at these locations? If so, that needs to be audited. If not, the records will show it, and everyone can move on.
I’ve seen what looks like a funding cycle. Public money comes in. Properties are acquired. Those properties are rented back to the nonprofit. Public money pays the rent. I’m not an auditor and I’m not going to put a legal label on it in a blog post, but I believe it deserves a hard look, including whether anyone is benefiting personally from the structure.
I’ve reported it
I have reported what I know to the FBI and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. I’ve also submitted information to the appropriate state oversight offices. It’s now in the hands of people with subpoena power and the authority to examine bank records, billing data and property filings. I’m not the judge here. I’m a citizen with firsthand knowledge who did the right thing and handed it over.
This is bigger than one organization
Minnesotans have watched the headlines for years. [Insert verified examples: the Feeding Our Future prosecutions, the Housing Stabilization Services shutdown, the investigations into autism (EIDBI) billing, and the child care and other program cases. Add the total dollar figures from DOJ and Minnesota DHS announcements, and cite each source.]
Every one of those cases involved programs that were supposed to help vulnerable people. Every one involved money that came out of your paycheck. And in case after case, the warning signs were there long before the arrests.
The pattern is hard to ignore. Programs get built with too little oversight. Billing gets approved with too little verification. And by the time anyone looks closely, the money is gone. Taxpayers have funded a lot of these programs over the years, and we deserve to know the money is going to the people it’s meant for.
The vulnerable adults and families who depend on these services deserve better too. They are the ones who get hurt when dollars meant for their care are diverted.
Why I’m running
I’m running for Congress in Minnesota’s 3rd District because I’m tired of reading about fraud after the fact. I’ve spent roughly twenty years building businesses from the ground up. I’ve worked with youth and adults with special needs through my personal training company. I know what real care looks like, and I know what it costs to earn a dollar honestly.
If you send me to Washington, my priorities will be:
- Real audits of publicly funded programs, including on-site verification that services are actually being delivered.
- Transparency in who owns the properties and vendors that public money flows to.
- Accountability for anyone who takes advantage of vulnerable people or taxpayers.
- Protection for whistleblowers like the one who came forward to me.
I wasn’t going to wait for someone else to ask these questions, and a trespass citation isn’t going to stop me from asking them.
If you have information about misuse of public funds in Minnesota, contact my campaign. If you have documents, bring them. If you’re an employee who has seen something wrong, you’ll be protected.
Minnesota is a great state. Let’s make sure it stays that way.
Tyler Bass For Congress
