Report: FBI Investigating Ex-Baltimore School Board Member's Company for Possible Kickbacks and Money Laundering

Status: UNDER INVESTIGATION. No charges have been filed. The Banner attributes the focus of the inquiry to one source with direct knowledge of the investigation. The FBI does not confirm or deny investigations. KEYS Development has not been publicly accused of Medicaid fraud by state or federal authorities.

The Baltimore Banner reports, citing a source with direct knowledge of the investigation, that the FBI is investigating KEYS Development, a behavioral health company founded by former Baltimore school board member Mujahid Muhammad, for kickbacks related to health care fraud and money laundering.

A search warrant carried out Sept. 30 at KEYS Development's offices said the FBI was investigating whether there were violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute, the source told the Banner. That federal law prohibits health care providers from paying for patient referrals or other business that would allow them to bill federal programs such as Medicare or Medicaid, the newspaper noted.

Neither Muhammad nor anyone associated with his companies has been charged with a crime, the Banner reported. The newspaper said its attempts to reach him were unsuccessful and that it was not clear whether he had an attorney. The FBI, the Banner reported, said it does not comment on investigations and does not confirm or deny them.

The Sept. 30 search and Muhammad's resignation were also reported at the time by other Baltimore outlets. WBAL-TV reported that the FBI confirmed a court-authorized search in the 7500 block of Liberty Road in Northwest Baltimore, and that Mayor Brandon Scott said, "We have accepted his resignation, and we will move forward." CBS News Baltimore reported that the school board confirmed the resignation and that the FBI confirmed it "conducted court-authorized law enforcement activity" that day on Liberty Road. The Banner's Sept. 30 report said Muhammad resigned from the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners hours after agents searched the building at 7501 Liberty Road, where he operates the nonprofit KEYS Empowers. The Banner's Tuesday report said the subject of the FBI investigation was not publicly known at the time of the resignation.

According to the Maryland Department of Health, as cited by the Banner, KEYS Development has received more than $61 million through Medicaid since 2015 for mental health and drug treatment services. State records show payments rose from more than $3.3 million in the 2021 fiscal year to $11.3 million in 2026, the Banner reported.

A Banner analysis of Medicaid data found that between 2019 and 2024, more than half of KEYS Development's revenue came from intensive outpatient treatment, and that the company's payments for that care increased fifteenfold in the same period. Statewide Medicaid payments for intensive outpatient care nearly quadrupled, from $57 million to more than $200 million, the analysis found. Maryland health officials barred new intensive outpatient providers from enrolling in Medicaid starting in 2024, the Banner reported, after a flood of new providers and growing concerns about fraud and poor quality of care. KEYS Development has not been publicly accused of Medicaid fraud by state or federal authorities, the Banner reported.

Scott appointed Muhammad to the school board in 2023. Muhammad's companies have done business with the city school system since 2022, the Banner reported. In June 2025, the school board approved a three-year contract with 11 agencies, including KEYS Development, for $7 million a year to expand mental health services in 131 schools. The school system terminated its agreement with KEYS after the FBI search, according to the Banner.

Before the search, the school district's ethics panel was scrutinizing Muhammad's financial disclosure statements, according to a source with knowledge of the school board's operations, the Banner reported. Forms the newspaper obtained through a public records request show he initially failed to fully disclose his financial interests in and employment with KEYS Development and KEYS Empowers in his 2023 and 2024 statements. He filed amended statements in June 2026. Officials have not said whether that was done in response to an ethics panel inquiry, the Banner reported.