From the New York Times: The fraud scandal that rattled Minnesota was staggering in its scale and brazenness.
Federal prosecutors charged dozens of people with felonies, accusing them of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from a government program meant to keep children fed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
At first, many in the state saw the case as a one-off abuse during a health emergency. But as new schemes targeting the state’s generous safety net programs came to light, state and federal officials began to grapple with a jarring reality.
Over the last five years, law enforcement officials say, fraud took root in pockets of Minnesota’s Somali diaspora as scores of individuals made small fortunes by setting up companies that billed state agencies for millions of dollars’ worth of social services that were never provided.
Federal prosecutors say that 59 people have been convicted in those schemes so far, and that more than $1 billion in taxpayers’ money has been stolen in three plots they are investigating. That is more than Minnesota spends annually to run its Department of Corrections. Minnesota’s fraud scandal stood out even in the context of rampant theft during the pandemic, when Americans stole tens of billions through unemployment benefits, business loans and other forms of aid, according to federal auditors.
The three fraud schemes uncovered so far include siphoning money from a food program called Feeding The Future, Minnesota’s Medicaid Housing Stabilization Services program, and a program intended to provide therapy for autistic children.
So far, a total of 86 people have been charged in the investigations of the three schemes, and all but 8 of those charged were from the Somalian community.
The Times notes that the outrage that has erupted among Minnesota voters over the massive extent of the fraud, putting Democrat Gov. Tim Walz and Democrats in the hot seat, and is giving Republicans an advantage as they are hoping to win back the governor’s seat in next year’s election.
The Somali community in Minnesota, estimated to be about 80,000 people, are lamenting that the fraud schemes have damaged the reputation of the entire community and cast suspicion on all of them.
Concerns were first raised about suspicions of fraud back in 2020, with regards to the meals program. However, when whistleblowers from the Minnesota Department of Education voiced concerns, Feeding Our Future fired back, played the ‘race card’ and threatened a lawsuit if new applicants from “minority-owned businesses” were not approved quickly.
Walz has defended his administration’s response to the situation, claiming the programs were only seeking to keep Minnesotans housed, fed and healthy, and touted, “The programs are set up to move the money to people. The programs are set up to improve people’s lives, and in many cases, the criminals find the loopholes.”
Somalian refugee Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) also defended the Somali community, claiming, “We do not blame the lawlessness of an individual on a whole community.”
The Minnesota Department of Human Service Employees released a scathing statement, pinning the blame squarely on Walz. The statement reads:
Tim Walz is 100% responsible for massive fraud in Minnesota. We let Tim Walz know of fraud early on, hoping for a partnership in stopping fraud but no, we got the opposite response. Tim Walz systematically retaliated against whistleblowers using monitoring, threats, repression, and did his best to discredit fraud reports. Instead of partnership, we got the full weight of retaliation by Tim Walz, certain DFL members and an indifferent mainstream media. It’s scary, isolating and left us wondering who we can turn to.
In addition to retaliating against whistleblower, Tim Walz disempowered the Office of the Legislative Auditor, allowing agencies to disregard their audit findings and guidance. Media and politicians supporting Tim Walz or the DFL-agenda attacked whistleblowers who were trying to raise red flags on fraudulent activities.
This is a cascade of systemic failures leading up to Tim Walz. Agency leaders appointed by Tim Walz willfully disregarded rules and laws to keep fraud reports quiet – even to the extent of threatening families of whistleblowers. These same leaders are not qualified for their jobs, instead getting leadership jobs via Tim Walz’s friendship so state government were left floundering. DFL lawmakers refused to acknowledge fraud and deflected any serious conversation to stop fraud. Biased mainstream media such as WCCO and MPR showed absolutely no interest in covering fraud happening in our own state. Programs, especially in behavioral health and disability services were built without any guardrails against fraud, all in an attempt to extract more funding from legislature and the federal government.
As staff, we firsthand witnessed and observed fraud happening yet we were shutdown, reassigned and told to keep quiet. Sometimes more. Leadership did not want to appear to discriminate against certain communities and were unwilling to take action, such as stopping fraud, that would have an adverse impact on their image. To date, no single agency leader has been held responsible for their role in fraud whether it’s Shireen Gandhi, Jess Geil, Jodi Harpstead, Natasha Merz, Eric Grumdahl or others.
It is a structure created and maintained by Tim Walz who has created an environment of inter-related agencies and institutions including the media – that help foster fraud through retaliation and turning a blind eye in exchange for political gain in the form of high power agency leadership jobs or other perks.
Fundamentally, Tim Walz is dishonest, lacks ethics and integrity, has poor leadership abilities, and has never taken any accountability for his role in fraud. Instead, Tim Walz deflects by blaming national politics for his own failings and distracts the public with inveterate lying. These lies include his reference of a budget surplus under his tenure. Fact is, Minnesota never had a surplus, we had been given federal ARPA funds that were conflated as surplus money otherwise, we’d be in a deficit. And those ARPA funds, which were meant to be temporary funds were used to create more leadership positions for Tim Walz “buddies.”
As such, we can’t fight fraud in Minnesota alone hence why we’re appealing to the federal levels of government. We need all the help we can get as Tim Walz’s agency leaders have upped their brazen approach in covering up their knowledge of fraud.
We are grateful to numerous solid politicians (esp the Fraud Committee) and media outlets who are trying to halt fraud. We are also grateful to other whistleblowers who are bravely stepping up.
Thank You NY Times for bringing the plight of Minnesota to the national stage.
Tim Walz is 100% responsible for massive fraud in Minnesota. We let Tim Walz know of fraud early on, hoping for a partnership in stopping fraud but no, we got the opposite response. Tim Walz systematically retaliated against whistleblowers using monitoring, threats, repression,… https://t.co/cEtbnuKmgn
— Minnesota Department of Human Service Employees (@Minnesota_DHS) November 30, 2025
READ MORE from the New York Times.
Journalist Gary Abernathy reacted to the report, writing, “This should spell the end for Walz, Democrats’ leadership in Minnesota, and socialism-style government in the U.S.”
X user Ann Bauer also responded to the report, arguing that Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison, a Black Muslim, is just as guilty as Walz about allowing the massive fraud schemes to continue.
This is a fair & thorough piece on state-sponsored social service fraud in Minnesota. But one thing that’s notably missing is mention of AG Keith Ellison, without whom this widespread corruption never could have taken root. (Tim Walz is his wingman.)https://t.co/hVRlUASQW6
— Ann Bauer (@annbauerwriter) November 29, 2025
THIS WILL MAKE YOU FURIOUS: Multiple fraud schemes exposed among Minnesota migrant community
Another fraud case in Minnesota that has prompted outrage involved a Somali migrant Abdifatah Yusuf and his wife, who were charged with stealing over $7.2 million in a home healthcare company Medicaid fraud scam.
Shockingly, even though a jury found the couple guilty, a Democrat judge has overturned the guilty verdict and allowed them to walk free.
NEWS ALERT: Minnesota Judge Overturns Guilty Verdict in $7 Million Taxpayer Fraud Case
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