Minnesota fraud cases, explained: How hundreds of millions allegedly slipped through state programs

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HHS official details federal actions against Minnesota after fraud allegations

HHS Assistant Secretary for Family Support Alex Adams joins 'America's Newsroom' to detail the department's actions to address allegations of fraud in Minnesota.

Here is what is known so far as Minnesota and the administration of Democratic Gov. Tim Walz continue to grapple with a burgeoning fraud scandal that has metastasized into a series of different, costly alleged money laundering operations at times tied to the Somali community in the Twin Cities.

With so many moving parts, the following will present a summary of what has transpired so far in terms of each branch of the alleged scandal in Minnesota since the stories first made front-page news one month ago — as potentially upward of $1 billion being lost collectively, with some monies in one respect being remitted overseas and potentially into the hands of Islamic terrorists.

For his part, Walz eventually took responsibility for his state’s safety net allegedly being bilked out of millions, saying in December, "This is on my watch, I am accountable for this and, more importantly I am the one that will fix it."  

Walz said his administration had been taking action to stop some suspected fraudulent payments over the summer and that his office referred some for prosecution.

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However, Walz said that a figure of $9 billion in lost taxpayer monies due to fraud stated by a federal prosecutor was "sensationalized" and invented by the White House, according to the Minnesota Reformer.

President Donald Trump also labeled Walz a slur for developmentally disabled people shortly before the fraud story blew up in earnest, leading to the governor firing back at critics driving by his home and shouting the slur at the edifice.

FEEDING OUR FUTURE

By mid-December, the Justice Department announced at least 78 people had been charged in what became dubbed the "Feeding Our Future" scandal, so named for the Somali-linked nonprofit whose alleged bilking of St. Paul’s and Washington’s coffers brought the case to the fore. Nearly 40 people had by then pleaded guilty.

Defendants charged in the larger scheme were accused of faking invoices, attendance records and distribution of meals in low-income and other affected areas around Minnesota — utilizing COVID-era waivers the U.S. Department of Agriculture granted for requirements in child nutrition programs that allowed for, in some cases, food distributors for children not be necessarily linked to an accredited school.

FBI Director Kash Patel pegged one figure at $250 million stolen "from hungry kids during a pandemic to fund mansions and luxury cars," calling the fraud "as shameless as it gets."

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said that a figure of $9 billion in lost taxpayer monies due to fraud stated by a federal prosecutor was "sensationalized" and invented by the White House. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Documents allege about 300 registered food-distribution "sites" served little or no food, while the vendors cited used the program to launder money meant for the kids.

Officials from the right-leaning public policy group Manhattan Institute also purported to discover the remittance of monies allegedly being bilked in Somali-heavy Minneapolis and entities in Somalia itself, including the terrorist group al-Shabab.

Statistics cited by the institute showed that 40% of Somali households in Africa received remitted funds from abroad, of which $1.7 billion overall in 2023 were sent from the U.S. That reported figure is larger than the Mogadishu government’s budget.

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While some in the mainstream media kept mum about the burgeoning fraud reports — including only seconds on broadcast network nightly news shows, according to the Media Research Center — The Washington Post’s editorial board scorched Walz for "refusing to take responsibility for the welfare fraud that happened in plain sight during the pandemic."

"Residents, mostly of Somali descent, targeted established Medicaid programs. They opened fake food distribution centers and autism centers to funnel resources away from the neediest. The numbers alone made clear what was happening," the Post wrote.

The FBI’s Minnesota lead, Alvin Winston Sr., told Fox News Digital that "the egregious fraud unveiled in the Feeding our Future case epitomizes a profound betrayal of public trust."

"The magnitude (of the fraud) cannot be overstated," added U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson, who added that the overall network of fraudulent behavior is "swamping Minnesota and calling into question everything we know about our state."

HOUSING SUBSIDIES & AUTISM SERVICES

As the Feeding Our Future scandal enveloped the news cycle, federal prosecutors in mid-December announced yet another Minnesota program that had been taken advantage of by fraudsters — including outside the state itself — to the tune of millions once more.

Thompson quipped Dec. 19 that every time his office "looks under a rock," another "$50 million" scheme pops up, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

At least five people have been charged for allegedly defrauding the state’s Housing Stabilization Services program, which helps Minnesotans find and upkeep housing, or for allegedly bilking an early-autism services program, according to the paper.

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In the case of the autism services program, invoices allegedly were submitted for services allegedly never rendered, an allegation that was backed up by congressional findings later in the month.

Of those charged, Thompson’s office leveled allegations against Anthony Jefferson and Lester Brown of Philadelphia, who, according to the Reformer, heard that the housing subsidy was "easy money."

The men went to Minnesota, enrolled their companies in the program, then filed fraudulent claims from Pennsylvania amounting to $3.5 million in Medicaid payments through what Thompson called "fraud tourism," the paper said.

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In October, Walz’s office also had paused payments in as many as 14 state programs viewed as "high risk," according to the Reformer.

By December, the House Oversight Committee honed in on the alleged fraud, launching its own probe and faulting Walz for inefficient oversight.

"The Committee has serious concerns about how you as the Governor, and the Democrat-controlled administration, allowed millions of dollars to be stolen. The Committee also has concerns that you and your administration were fully aware of this fraud and chose not to act for fear of political retaliation," Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., wrote to the governor in relation to the fraud’s larger scope, as federal dollars were likely involved.

DAY CARE FRAUD

The latest wrinkle in the burgeoning fraud scandal enveloping the Land of 10,000 Lakes involves numerous alleged day cares — many linked to or owned by members of the Somali community in the Twin Cities.

Entities who registered their daycare with the state were reportedly billing for care that was not provided. The state’s agency responsible for childcare oversight was already dealing with integrity issues within the social services bureaucracy, but did have mechanisms in place to stop payments or cut off provider-companies found to be ineligible or fraudulent.

Months before blogger Nick Shirley began visiting addresses of Somali-run alleged daycares, local media reported on at least 62 active state probes into providers.

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The cases received national attention after Shirley visited a storefront labeled "Quality Learing Center" (sic), whose owner later defended it and quickly had the viral spelling error corrected.

Shirley and his partner, known only as "David," spent 45 minutes filming themselves visiting several childcare addresses only to find an assortment of vacant or non-operational storefronts, closed businesses or angry Somali occupants who refused to answer questions or entertain the pair’s mock efforts to "register" a child with the supposed daycare.

Minnesota’s DCYF, the childcare agency, later said they take all allegations seriously and its administrator, Tikki Brown, said that her team regularly inspects such addresses.

The ensuing firestorm briefly crashed the state’s childcare licensing lookup site, including part of the time that Fox News Digital attempted to access it. The number listed in licensing documents for the "Learing" center was disconnected.

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At another allegedly fraudulent day care site, the owner called a press conference to reveal purported vandalism in which burglars stole his application and registration information, while online sleuths claimed the position of broken drywall made such claims impossible, beside critics’ incredulity at bandits strictly targeting licensing documents.

Fox News Digital’s Hanna Panreck, Rachel Wolf and Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.