On Monday, federal Homeland Security officials were carrying out a fraud investigation in Minneapolis, said Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
This action follows years of investigation that started with a $300 million scheme at a nonprofit. 57 defendants in Minnesota have been convicted in relation to it. Prosecutors stated that the organization was at the core of the country’s largest scam, where defendants took advantage of a state – run, federally funded program meant to provide food for children.
An earlier report in December indicated that half or more of the approximately $18 billion in federal funds that have supported 14 programs in Minnesota since 2018…
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said at that time that fraud would not be tolerated and that his administration “will continue collaborating with federal partners to ensure that fraud is halted and fraudsters are apprehended.”
On Monday, Noem posted a video on a social platform showing DHS officers entering an unidentified business and questioning the person working behind the counter. Noem said that the officers were “conducting a large – scale investigation into childcare and other widespread fraud.”
“The American people are entitled to know how their taxpayer money is being used, and arrests should be made when abuse is discovered,” U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement posted.
This action comes a day after FBI Director Kash Patel said on X that the agency had “deployed additional personnel and investigative resources to Minnesota to break up large – scale fraud schemes exploiting federal programs.”
Patel said that previous fraud arrests in Minnesota were “just the tip of a very large iceberg.”
President Donald Trump has criticized Walz’s administration regarding the situation to date.
In recent weeks, there has been… between state and federal enforcement in the area as the Trump administration’s immigration… focused on the… in the Minneapolis – St. Paul area, which is the largest in the country.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Minnesota, among those running schemes to obtain funds for child nutrition, housing services, and autism programs, 82 out of 92 defendants are Somali Americans.
Walz spokesperson Claire Lancaster said that the governor has been working for years to “crack down on fraud” and is seeking more authority from the Legislature to take assertive action. Walz has supported criminal prosecutions and taken several other steps, including strengthening oversight and hiring an outside firm to audit payments to high – risk programs, Lancaster said.