Nick Shirley’s viral video brought attention to widespread daycare fraud within Minnesota’s Somali community. Further investigation reveals Somali participation in multiple benefit schemes, ranging from nutrition programs to housing and autism services.
Attorney General Pam Bondi stated that, of the 92 defendants charged in child nutrition, housing services, and autism program schemes, 82 are Somali Americans.
Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson called these programs “staggering, industrial-scale fraud” and stated that when investigations are complete, total fraud could exceed $9 billion. Documented theft already includes $300 million from Feeding Our Future, nearly $220 million from autism programs, and $302 million from Housing Stabilization Services, totaling $822 million.
The Somali-linked nonprofit Feeding Our Future was founded in 2016 and during COVID-19 claimed to distribute meals to schoolchildren but instead stole at least $250 million while providing few or no meals. The scheme listed 299 meal sites claiming to serve 90 million meals in less than two years, more than 120,000 meals per day. One FBI-surveilled site claiming 6,000 meals per day actually averaged around 40 visitors.
Federal prosecutors allege only around 3% of funding was spent on food, with the remainder funneled to conspirators. Federal prosecutors indicted 78 suspects, with more than 50 pleading guilty and seven found guilty at trial. State officials spotted early fraud signs in July 2019. When Minnesota’s Department of Education tried to stop payments in December 2020, Feeding Our Future sued the state, alleging racial discrimination. A judge found no legal basis for stopping payments.
Current and former federal sources confirmed some funds ended up with al-Qaida-linked terror group al-Shabaab in Somalia. One recovered text message read “Please send $1,000 to Mogadishu Bakara,” referring to a market previously controlled by al-Shabaab. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced his department will investigate whether tax dollars from Minnesota’s public assistance programs made their way to designated terrorists.
Thompson explained the connection between fraud schemes: “Many defendants in these cases were getting money from multiple government benefit programs, many Medicaid programs. This is how these investigations grew out of Feeding our Future. I think roughly two dozen or so Feeding our Future defendants were getting money from autism clinics and that’s why, that is how we learned about the autism fraud.”
Widespread fraud in Minnesota’s autism services system followed the same pattern as other scams. The first defendant charged was Asha Farhan Hassan, who, along with her partners, approached parents in the Somali community to recruit their children into Smart Therapy. The children did not have autism diagnoses, but Hassan and her partners worked with professionals to have the recruited children improperly qualified for autism services.
Parents received monthly cash kickbacks ranging from approximately $300 to $1,500 per child. Prosecutors also charged another defendant who approached parents in the Somali community to recruit children for his clinic, which ultimately submitted $6 million in claims for Medicaid reimbursement.
Hellbound and Down 