Public trust in Minnesota’s social safety net has been deeply undermined following revelations of extensive fraud, with perpetrators allegedly siphoning off over $1 billion intended for vulnerable populations, including children, the homeless, and those requiring autism therapy.

In a span of five years, individuals primarily within the Somali community have been accused of amassing wealth by creating businesses that billed the state for millions in services that were never provided, as reported by The New York Times.

Federal authorities have charged 86 individuals in connection with these fraudulent activities, with 59 convictions already secured across what they categorize as three distinct fraud conspiracies.

A key focus of the investigation is the nonprofit organization Feeding Our Future, which purportedly distributed tens of thousands of meals to low-income children during the pandemic.

Prosecutors contend that the majority of these meals were fictitious, with funds instead being diverted to extravagant purchases, including luxury homes, vehicles, jewelry, and overseas real estate investments.

‘No one will support these programs if they continue to be riddled with fraud,’ Joseph H Thompson, the federal prosecutor who took on the cases, told The Times. ‘We’re losing our way of life in Minnesota in a very real way.’

Given the scale of the situation, President Donald Trump has weighed in, criticizing Governor Tim Walz for allowing Minnesota to become ‘a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity.’

He said the perpetrators should be ‘sent back to where they came from.’ He later said he would be revoking the temporary protected status of the roughly 700 Somali nationals who have it, which prevents them from being deported.

Governor Tim Walz, who was attacked by President Donald Trump over his handling of this, defended himself by saying he is advancing new strategies to detect fraud. He is pictured with his wife Gwen

FBI raids Minnesota nonprofit Feeding our Future on January 20, 2022. Feeding Our Future was the largest nonprofit that was getting state and federal dollars to feed low-income children. Prosecutors say that money was actually going toward luxury homes, cars, jewelry and real estate abroad

On Thanksgiving, he called Walz ‘seriously retarded,’ while also attacking Ilhan Omar, a congresswoman of Somali origin who has represented Minnesota’s 5th district since 2019.

Walz has defended what has gone on by saying his administration erred on the side of generosity during the pandemic and prioritized getting money out to people as quickly as possible.

‘The programs are set up to move the money to people,’ Walz told The Times. ‘The programs are set up to improve people’s lives, and in many cases, the criminals find the loopholes.’

Walz, who is seeking a third term as governor next year, has created a new task force to diagnose and root out fraud. He also plans to use AI tools to more easily find suspicious transactions at the governmental level.

‘The message here in Minnesota,’ Walz said, ‘is if you commit a crime, if you commit fraud against public dollars, you are going to go to prison.’

Lisa Demuth, a Republican who serves as the Minnesota House speaker, is looking to unseat Walz as governor and accused him of raising taxes while allowing fraud to ‘run wild.’

Walz began shutting down the state’s housing initiative in the last few months, admitting that it was beyond saving.

The fraud reached such a scale that one housing program ballooned from an expected $2.6 million to $104 million, mostly due to fake billing. Hundreds of providers were reimbursed for services that were never provided.

Another program that was supposed to provide therapy to autistic children did nothing of the sort, according to prosecutors.

Rep Ilhan Omar, a congresswoman of Somali origin who has represented Minnesota’s 5th district since 2019, has said this does not represent the entire Somali community

They say providers found children in Minneapolis’s Somali community and falsely certified them as qualifying for autism treatment. In return, the parents were paid kickbacks for their cooperation and their silence.

The state’s Somali community, about 80,000 strong, say that this fraud has significantly damaged their reputation  

‘The actions of a small group have made it easier for people already inclined to reject us to double down,’ said Abdi Mohamed, a filmmaker in Minneapolis, told The Times.

Omar said: ‘We do not blame the lawlessness of an individual on a whole community.’

Critics of Walz claim a key reason the fraud wasn’t stopped was due to a reluctance from civil servants to go after the criminals due to their race, and being fearful of alienating the Somali community, according to the New York Times.

In 2020, Minnesota Department of Education officials were drowning in a flood of applications for new pandemic feeding sites. 

As the number of providers exploded and invoices skyrocketed, staff started questioning the authenticity of invoices for meals that supposedly went to tens of thousands of children.

Feeding Our Future, the largest nonprofit participating in the program, warned that if the state didn’t fast-track approvals for ‘minority-owned businesses,’ it would face a lawsuit accusing officials of racism.

Walz said his administration erred on the side of generosity during Covid. An aerial view of Minneapolis skyline and surrounding area is pictured

The state backed down. Feeding Our Future filed suit anyway, and despite mounting red flags, the agency kept approving feeding sites and reimbursing claims for months afterward.

The Daily Mail approached Tim Walz’s office for comment.