Tag: minnesota

TOTAL CORRUPTION: Two Minnesota Muslim Women Arrested In Massive $21 Million Autism Program Scam — Taxpayer Cash Sent Overseas!

The Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) has arrested two Muslim women in Minnesota for defrauding American taxpayers of more than $21 million through a brazen scheme targeting the state’s autism services program.

Shamso Ahmed Hassan, 55, and Hanaan Mursal Yusuf, 25, both of Brooklyn Park, were taken into custody by HSI agents. Federal prosecutors say the pair submitted $46.6 million in fraudulent claims to Minnesota’s Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention (EIDBI) program — a Medicaid-funded service for children with autism — and pocketed approximately $21.1 million in taxpayer money for services that were never provided.

According to the DHS statement and indictment:

  • Hassan was a beneficial owner of Smart Therapy Center LLC and Star Autism Center LLC but hid her ownership interests from Minnesota regulators as required.
  • Yusuf worked as a provider and was heavily involved in operations and submitting claims.
  • They paid illegal kickbacks to parents to enroll children.
  • They billed for services that were never rendered, for children who didn’t qualify, and disguised the kickbacks by routing money through family members and employees — with some funds sent overseas.
  • The scheme ran from at least May 2020 through December 2024.

“These Minnesota residents have been accused of stealing more than $21 million from the American taxpayer,” said Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis.

“They now face charges of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, EIGHT counts of health care fraud, and TWO counts of money laundering. Their Medicaid fraud scheme started during the COVID pandemic and lasted for four years. ICE continues to zero in on the rampant fraud in Minnesota. Under Secretary Mullin, we will end the defrauding of the American people.”

Both women are U.S. citizens (Hassan naturalized). They have pleaded not guilty and remain in federal custody.

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Minnesota Law Requires Platforms to Monitor and Age-Estimate All Users

Governor Tim Walz signed House File 4138 on Tuesday, turning Minnesota into the latest state to demand that social media platforms profile every user who logs on.

The law, which takes effect in July 2027, forces platforms with at least 10,000 account holders or $1 billion in annual revenue to estimate the age of all Minnesota users, obtain parental consent before anyone under 16 can hold an account, and disable a list of features the legislature has labeled “addictive.” It passed the state House 132-2 and the Senate 66-0.

We obtained a copy of the bill for you here.

The bipartisan consensus is remarkable given what the bill actually requires. Buried beneath the child protection language is a surveillance apparatus that applies to every user, not just minors.

When you create an account on a covered platform, the law demands you declare your month and year of birth. That’s just the beginning. Once you’ve spent 25 hours on the platform within six months, the company has 14 days to estimate your age using “reasonable efforts, taking into consideration available technology and the data in the possession of the covered social media platform.”

If the platform can’t reach 80% confidence that you’re 16 or older, you get classified as a child and locked into restricted mode.

Hit 50 hours, and the confidence threshold rises to 90%. Still not verified? The age estimation repeats every six months for the first seven years your account exists, or more often if the platform runs any demographic analytics on your profile.

That means platforms are legally required to continuously analyze how you behave, what content you engage with, and who you communicate with for the better part of a decade. The law creates an obligation to surveil that didn’t exist before.

The mechanisms available for “verifiable parental consent” come from the COPPA 1.0 framework which speaks volumes about the privacy costs this law is willing to impose.

Parents can sign a consent form, hand over credit card information, submit a copy of a government-issued ID alongside a face scan, or verify their identity through video conferencing.

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Don Lemon Discovers Rules After a Church Service Gets Disrupted

“Independent journalist” and former CNN anchor Don Lemon filed a motion today in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis seeking the release of grand jury transcripts in the federal civil rights case against him. From the AP:

Lemon pleaded not guilty in February to federal civil rights charges, following a protest at a Minnesota church where an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official is a pastor. He is one of 39 people charged in the January incident.

Lemon insists he was at the Cities Church in St. Paul to chronicle the Jan. 18 protest but was not a participant.

Lemon and another independent journalist, Georgia Fort, filed a motion in February seeking transcripts of the grand jury proceedings that resulted in the indictments against them and seven others.

In the latest filing in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, Lemon’s attorneys argue that “the past 15 months have seen an unprecedented and growing distrust in the Justice Department’s use of the grand jury process.” For that reason, the transcripts from Lemon’s grand jury should be released, his attorneys said.

“In the past two weeks alone, several courts have chastised Justice Department prosecutors for irregularities in the grand jury process and gone so far as to dismiss indictments for grand jury misconduct,” Lemon’s attorneys said in the Wednesday filing.

Lemon and journalist Georgia Fort face charges tied to a Jan. 18 protest that disrupted worship at Cities Church in St. Paul. Prosecutors charged 39 defendants in the case, while Lemon insists he attended the protest to document events as a journalist, not to join the disruption.

The case centers on a protest at a house of worship connected to David Easterwood, a Cities Church pastor who also serves as acting director of the ICE field office in St. Paul.

Protesters entered during Sunday worship, chanted, confronted people inside, and turned a sacred space into a political theater.

Lemon’s defenders want the country to see only a journalist with a camera. Worshippers had reason to see something else: a service interrupted, a congregation targeted, and a church treated like fair game because activists disliked the pastor’s government job.

Lemon is now arguing that recent grand jury problems in other federal cases make the transcripts necessary, with his attorneys pointing to dismissals and judicial rebukes in Chicago, Wyoming, and Rhode Island. 

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Indicted Minnesota Fraudster Muhammad Omar Captured After Jumping Off Balcony and Fleeing Amid $90 Million Bust

Indicted Minnesota fraudster Muhammad Omar was captured two hours after he jumped off a 4-story balcony and fled.

The Justice Department on Thursday announced new indictments against 15 Minnesota fraudsters in a ‘shocking’ $90 million bust during a press conference on its efforts to crack down on fraud.

Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald made the announcement after Aimee Bock, the convicted mastermind behind the $250 million Feeding Our Future scandal, was sentenced to 41.5 years in federal prison.

“Today, we are announcing criminal charges against 15 defendants in Minnesota for fraud schemes that targeted over $90 million in taxpayer dollars,” Colin McDonald said.

“This is the beginning of our work in Minnesota. The fraud here in Minnesota is shocking,” he added.

One of the indicted fraudsters, identified as Muhammad Omar, jumped out of a 4-story building and fled.

“Muhammad Abdulqadir Omar, 32, was charged by indictment with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and four counts of health care fraud in connection with a scheme to submit $3.3 million in fraudulent claims to the Housing Stabilization Services (HSS) Program of Minnesota Medicaid, of which approximately $3.2 million was paid,” the DOJ said.

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DOJ Indicts 15 In Sweeping Crackdown On Somali Fraud

Federal prosecutors unveiled sweeping new charges Thursday against 15 defendants in Minnesota, accusing them of looting more than $90 million from taxpayer-funded Medicaid programs in what officials described as a massive new chapter in the state’s sprawling Somali fraud scandal.

The Department of Justice announced the cases during a press conference led by Colin McDonald, assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s National Fraud Enforcement Division, just hours after Feeding Our Future figure Aimee Bock was sentenced to more than 41 years in prison for her role in a separate $250 million pandemic fraud scheme that rocked Minnesota.

Many of the defendants charged in the latest cases are Somali or Somali-American, according to charging documents and court records tied to the investigation.

Federal officials signaled the new indictments are part of a much broader push to crack down on what prosecutors say has become systemic fraud across multiple Minnesota public assistance programs.

“Let me be clear upfront about something: This is not the end of our work in Minnesota,” McDonald said. “This is the beginning of our work in Minnesota. The fraud here in Minnesota is shocking.”

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Minnesota ‘Feeding Our Future’ Somali Fraud Mastermind Aimee Bock Sentenced to Over 41 Years in Prison

Aimee Bock, the convicted mastermind behind the $250 million Feeding Our Future scandal, has been sentenced to 41.5 years in federal prison.

The sentencing, handed down Thursday, was over her role in a massive scheme that fraudulently billed taxpayers for tens of millions of meals that were never provided to low-income children during the pandemic.

The fraud was centered in Minnesota’s large Somali community and involved dozens of defendants.

Bock, who founded Feeding Our Future, was convicted in March 2025 on multiple counts, including conspiracy, bribery, and wire fraud. She had been the central figure coordinating the operation that exploited relaxed federal rules during the COVID-19 emergency.

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Ilhan Omar Knew About $250 Million Somali Fraud Scheme, Convicted Mastermind Claims in Explosive Jailhouse Interview

Aimee Bock, the convicted mastermind behind the massive $250 million Feeding Our Future COVID meal fraud scandal, has dropped a bombshell from jail, saying she believes Rep. Ilhan Omar knew exactly what was going on and actively helped keep the fraudulent program alive.

Bock, the founder of Feeding Our Future, spoke to the New York Post this week from Sherburne County Jail, where she is awaiting sentencing after her March 2025 conviction on conspiracy, bribery, and wire fraud charges.

Dozens of individuals, mostly from Minnesota’s Somali community, have been convicted in the scheme that fraudulently billed the federal government for tens of millions of meals that were never served to low-income children during the pandemic.

“I struggle to believe that she wouldn’t have known,” Bock said of Omar.

Bock alleged that Omar’s office repeatedly stepped in to help secure and extend USDA waivers that dramatically loosened oversight of the child nutrition programs.

Those waivers eliminated the requirement for site inspections and allowed restaurants and other non-school entities to participate, opening the floodgates to massive fraud.

Omar personally introduced the Maintaining Essential Access to Lunch for Students (MEALS) Act in March 2020, which gave the USDA authority to issue those waivers during the pandemic.

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Minnesota Tax Committee Chair Rep. Aisha Gomez Screams at GOP Rep. to “Go F*cking Shoot Yourself” During Gun Control Meltdown – GOP Leaders Demand She Be Stripped of Power

Minnesota House Democrat Rep. Aisha Gomez (D-Minneapolis) verbally assaulted Republican Rep. Elliott Engen, telling him to “go f*cking shoot himself” right in the middle of a heated debate on gun control legislation.

Multiple members of the Minnesota House Republican Caucus have confirmed the disgusting outburst to Townhall reporter Dustin Grage, exposing yet another example of the toxic, violent rhetoric coming from the very Democrats who claim to want to “stop the violence” while pushing their anti-Second Amendment agenda.

The vile attack happened late Thursday night during a marathon session where Democrats staged a sit-in to force a vote on gun-grabbing legislation (HF 5140), mirroring a Senate bill that would ban so-called “assault weapons,” large-capacity magazines, and more. Republicans, led by Speaker Lisa Demuth, rightly insisted on proper committee review first.

After hours of emotional testimony about recent tragedies in Minnesota, including heartbreaking stories of loss from shootings like the one at Annunciation church, Gomez reportedly lost it and directed her filth directly at Rep. Engen.

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Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Name Pops Up MULTIPLE Times in $250 MILLION Feeding Our Future Fraud Emails – Including One Titled “Ilhan’s Office” – But the Radical Squad Member REFUSES to Turn Over Documents to Minnesota Investigators

Fresh court exhibits from the massive $250 MILLION Feeding Our Future fraud trial have revealed that Rep. Ilhan Omar’s name appeared MULTIPLE times in email chains and text messages with convicted fraudster Aimee Bock, the mastermind behind the largest COVID-era fraud scheme targeting children’s nutrition programs.

According to trial exhibits unsealed in Aimee Bock’s case, Omar’s office was directly involved in communications with the fraud ring.

According to resurfaced trial exhibits from Bock’s 2025 conviction on wire fraud, conspiracy, and bribery charges, one email chain between Bock and Omar’s office was literally titled “Ilhan’s Office.”

Another email from February 2021 carried the subject line “help with USDA food program,” right in the middle of the massive scam that funneled hundreds of millions in federal pandemic funds to fake meal sites, luxury cars, jewelry, and overseas real estate, according to the New York Post.

Text messages recovered during a raid of Bock’s Minnesota home also show direct communication between the fraudster and Omar’s congressional staff.

More from the Post:

A few days after Bock’s email to Omar, on Feb. 28, Bock exchanged messages with Abdikerm Eidleh, a Feeding Our Future employee who fled the country after he was indicted in 2022. The subject line of their emails was “Ilhan’s Office,” according to the court documents.

While the list of exhibits is public, the contents have been sealed by the court.

The exhibits also include a text message string between Bock and Omar, which was uncovered during a raid of Bock’s Minnesota house, records show.

Bock has been leaking documents from behind bars through her college-age son ahead of her sentencing to try to shift some of the blame to elected officials, Minnesota federal prosecutors have alleged.

It’s unclear if those leaked documents were related to Omar.

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Minnesota nonprofit accused of siphoning $6.5M to fund Vegas trips, luxury cars, private liquor store

The head of a Minnesota nonprofit allegedly siphoned off more than $6 million in taxpayer funds to treat himself to such lavish goodies as trips to Vegas, luxury rides and shopping sprees at Harley Davidson.

Trahern Pollard, founder and now-former director of the nonprofit We Push For Peace, was supposed to be leading his organization in providing “conflict de-escalation’’ work after George Floyd’s murder — an effort fueled by millions of dollars in government contracts, according to Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison in a new lawsuit against the group.

Instead, Pollard diverted more than $6 million of the dough to fund a well-heeled lifestyle for himself — not to mention to pay off child support, settle a tax bill with the IRS and subsidize his private businesses, including a liquor store and a used-car dealership, authorities said.

Pollard’s fellow former director, Jaclyn McGuigan, also was nailed in the alleged scheme.

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