Tag: welfare

Former Madera County worker arrested in CalFresh benefits theft case

55-year-old Leticia Mariscal, a former benefits eligibility worker in Madera County, has been arrested on charges of stealing over $40,000 in CalFresh benefits.

Investigators said she used the identities of more than 15 individuals, including the elderly and deceased.

U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced her arrest, saying she allegedly accessed county databases from December 2020 to April 2025 to carry out the scheme.

She reportedly approved benefits for these individuals, printed EBT cards in their names, and used the funds herself.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Madera County District Attorney’s Office, conducted the investigation.

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Former Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman’s Murder Is Now Very Suspect After Uncovering the Massive Fraud in Tim Walz’s State

The murder of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband is very suspect since the massive scandal in Minnesota involving the state’s social programs was uncovered. 

It looks like Democrat Melissa Hortman knew she was in big trouble when she was the only Democrat to vote against Tim Walz’s healthcare for illegals bill in Minnesota. She cried as she shared her position and admitted to stepping outside the Democrat initiated corrupt fence. “It’s almost like she knew what would happen next.

The former Minnesota Representative was gunned down with her husband days later.  The DOJ reported the following after they arrested the alleged murderer of Minnesota’s former congresswoman.

Vance Boelter, 57, has been indicted on six federal charges in connection with the stalking and murders of Minnesota House of Representatives Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark Hortman, the stalking and shooting of Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette Hoffman, and the attempted shooting of their daughter Hope Hoffman, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson.

“Vance Boelter planned and carried out a night of terror that shook Minnesota to its core,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson. “He carried out targeted political assassinations the likes of which have never been seen in Minnesota. We grieve with the Hortman family and continue to pray for the recovery of the Hoffmans. Today, a grand jury indicted Boelter with the most serious of federal charges for these heinous political assassinations. Let me be clear: Boelter will see justice.”

According to court documents, after extensive research and planning, Boelter embarked on a murderous rampage targeting Minnesota’s elected officials and their families. On June 14, 2025, the defendant disguised himself as a member of law enforcement and traveled to the homes of Democratic elected officials with the intent to intimidate and murder. Early that morning, the defendant traveled to the Hoffmans home in Champlin, Minnesota. By posing as a police officer, Boelter compelled the Hoffmans to answer their door. He then repeatedly shot Senator Hoffman and Yvette Hoffman and he attempted to shoot their daughter, Hope Hoffman.

The Gateway Pundit reported that the suspect in the shooting, Vance Luther Boelter, 57, was appointed by Walz in 2019 to serve on the Governor’s Workforce Development Board, and he also leads an international security firm.

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Minnesota Dem Tearfully Apologizes To Somalians After They Were Busted Stealing Billions

A Minnesota Democratic state senator apologized to the state’s Somali population following allegations that Somalis were responsible for committing billions in fraud.

Organizer Asad Aliwed put together the event Dec. 12 at the Irshad Islamic Center in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, Eden Prairie Local News reported. Democratic state Sens. Ann Johnson Stewart and Steve Cwodzinski tearfully shared their apology and offered support to a mosque full of Somalians on Friday. They were accompanied by Eden Prairie Mayor Ron Case, who ran in a nonpartisan election.

“We are heartbroken by the horrible actions of our government, and we want you to know that at the state level, we will do all that we can to support you,” Stewart could be heard saying in a video shared by Somali TV of Minnesota.

“Whether you live in our district or not, we are here,” Stewart said through tears. “We are 100% committed to helping you. You are welcome here, you belong here and we are here for you. I apologize, I have to leave for another commitment.”

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Chicago’s Guaranteed Income Guarantees Less Opportunity

There have been more than 150 guaranteed income pilot programs implemented across the country, but only one has made its program permanent – Cook County, Illinois.

The county, which includes Chicago, became the first place in America to commit to a taxpayer-funded program indefinitely, serving as the nucleus for expanding the scope of these programs nationally. Taxpayers and recipients beware.

A guaranteed income program is simple: Give low-income people a monthly amount of money to use as they see fit. These payments are in addition to other welfare benefits they receive, and don’t come with any requirements to work, to learn better money management, or to get job training.

The idea is to promote equity and help the poor and disadvantaged, a noble goal, but in practice it can harm families by reducing work, income, and opportunity.

They’re extremely expensive, too, and threaten to wreck the finances of any city or state that implements them with ever-higher taxes.

Cook County used $42 million in funds from the American Rescue Plan to run a two-year pilot program that provided 3,250 low- to moderate-income participants with $500 per month.

The results? One firm committed to “equitable economic development” found four apparent benefits.

Their modeling estimated that households directly spent 55.8% of the money received. The $42 million investment generated only $8.3 million annually for local businesses and a $5.4 million increase in annual economic output in Cook County. Generating $286,000 in tax revenue, $44,000 of which stayed in Cook County.

One concern with these findings is that no results from a control group were reported. There’s no way of knowing if the increases were a result of these 3,250 recipients or if it was simply a post-pandemic boon.

The county is continuing the program in 2026 at a cost of $7.5 million to local taxpayers.

Another study of a more rigorous Chicago-area pilot program with a control group found that the program discouraged participants from working and reduced their earned income.

Taking part in the pilot actually lowered participants’ earned income by $1800, excluding program payments. Recipients’ workforce participation dropped by 3.9 percentage points. 

Participants and, surprisingly, others in the recipient’s household, ended up reducing their hours worked per week. Children who grow up around full-time working adults are more likely to climb the economic ladder, so this reduction in work threatens the future of participants’ children.

Still, the appetite for guaranteed income programs is rapidly expanding in Illinois and nationally. Illinois allocated $827,272 in its 2026 budget to fund a pilot.

In October, Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) reintroduced the Guaranteed Income Pilot Act, with the stated goal of lifting people out of poverty. The federal program would select 20,000 participants.

Of them, 10,000 would receive “a cash payment each month equal to the fair market rent for a 2-bedroom home in the ZIP Code in which the eligible individual resides, or a substantially similar amount.” In Chicago, the payment would increase to $2,670 per month. In New York, it’d be $2910. A control group would contain 10,000 people.

A final report on the program would explicitly be required to study the feasibility of expanding the program. The goal of these programs – sometimes explicitly stated – is to cover more people.  

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Nearly 100 Minnesota Mayors Send Panicked Letter to Lawmakers Complaining About Fraud Scandal and the Leadership of Tim Walz

Almost 100 mayors in the state of Minnesota have sent a letter to state lawmakers complaining about the fraud scandal and how it is going to impact the communities they serve.

They are clearly not happy with the leadership of Governor Tim Walz and his connections to the fraud scandal that has rocked the state in recent weeks.

The scandal is still unfolding and it’s unclear what the final tally will be, but it’s looking like something in the tens of billions.

It’s shaping up to be the largest theft of taxpayer dollars in American history. Is there any wonder why these mayors are nervous?

FOX News reports:

98 Minnesota mayors warn state fiscal policies are hurting cities, residents and local budgets

A group of 98 Minnesota mayors raised concerns with state leaders in a letter about their state’s fiscal policies, saying they have impacted their cities and residents, noting a disappearing $18 billion surplus and a projected $2.9 billion to $3 billion deficit for the 2028-29 biennium.

In a letter to state lawmakers and Gov. Tim Walz, the 98 mayors expressed concern and frustration, said the state was slipping in national economic rankings.

“Fraud, unchecked spending, and inconsistent fiscal management in St. Paul have trickled down to our cities—reducing our capacity to plan responsibly, maintain infrastructure, hire and retain employees, and sustain core services without overburdening local taxpayers,” the letter states.

Cities across the state now face workforce shortages, slowed business investment, rising operational and construction costs, and families choosing to leave Minnesota altogether, the letter states…

“There is a growing disconnect between state-level fiscal decisions and the strain they place on the cities we lead, the letter said. “When the state expands programs or shifts responsibilities without stable funding, it is our residents—families, seniors, businesses, and workers—who ultimately bear the cost.”

You can see the full letter here.

These mayors should have demanded that Tim Walz resign.

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DOJ Charges California Food Stamp Official for Sending Benefits to Dead People – Then Spending Them

Federal prosecutors have charged a longtime California welfare worker with carrying out a multi-year fraud scheme involving food assistance benefits and dead people.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced the arrest of former Madera County benefits eligibility worker Leticia Mariscal, 55, of Madera.

Prosecutors alleged that Mariscal stole tens of thousands of dollars in CalFresh benefits by exploiting her access to county databases.

CalFresh is California’s version of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

According to the Justice Department, the alleged scheme took place between December 2020 and April 2025.

Mariscal is accused of improperly accessing identifying information for elderly and deceased individuals.

Authorities said she secretly approved those individuals for CalFresh benefits.

Prosecutors alleged that she then printed EBT cards in their names. Benefits were then deposited onto the cards and allegedly spent by Mariscal herself.

Federal authorities say that more than 15 identities were used in the scheme, The New York Post reported.

The total amount allegedly stolen was at least $40,000.

The case reportedly came to light after the son of a 91-year-old woman living in a nursing home questioned why his mother was receiving food assistance.

Investigators later confronted Mariscal with security footage, according to the complaint.

She allegedly admitted to the conduct after being shown the footage.

Prosecutors said she attempted to shift blame to a former boyfriend she had described as a gang member.

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Somali ‘Medicaid Mogul’ Accused Of Looting Maine Taxpayers, Family Allegedly Put Bounty On Reporter

If you thought the alleged Medicaid fraud in Minnesota by Somalis, which federal prosecutors say could reach $9 billion, was insane, wait until you read the latest report from The Maine Wire: the head of a local nonprofit is accused of lashing out at a local journalist over an investigation, while members of his family allegedly put a bounty on the head of a journalist in Somalia for sharing the reporting.

Earlier this month, Abdullahi Ali, the Executive Director of Health Services contractor Gateway Community Services, was accused of ripping off taxpayers.

NewsNation spoke with a whistleblower who spilled the beans: false records were filed for services that were never provided…

A former Gateway employee, Christopher Bernardini, said the nonprofit was reimbursed with tax dollars from Maine’s Medicaid program and later with federal tax dollars from the Paycheck Protection Program.

While heading up the nonprofit in Maine, Ali was also running for President of Jubbaland in Africa. He boasted to a Kenyan media outlet about how he helped raise funds for the Jubaland Somali army to buy guns and bullets.

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House Oversight Chair James Comer DESTROYS “Dollar Store Obama” Hakeem Jeffries After “Malignant Clown” Attack in Defense of Tim Walz and Somali Fraudsters

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) came out swinging on House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) in response to a recent press conference where Jeffries called him “a joke, an embarrassment, an unserious individual, and a malignant clown.”

This comes after the House Oversight Committee launched an investigation earlier this month into the widespread welfare and social services fraud perpetrated by Somali aliens, who stole billions of dollars from the state and federal government.

“The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is investigating reports of widespread fraud in Minnesota’s social services programs. The Committee has serious concerns about how you as the Governor, and the Democrat-controlled administration, allowed millions of dollars to be stolen. The Committee also has concerns that you and your administration were fully aware of this fraud and chose not to act for fear of political retaliation,” James Comer wrote in a letter to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison.

“The Committee therefore requests documents and communications showing what your administration knew about this fraud and whether you took action to limit or halt the investigation into this widespread fraud.”

Additionally, as The Gateway Pundit reported, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has launched his own investigation into the money trail and potential ties to terrorism.

On Thursday, a reporter asked Jeffries if he thinks Walz and Ellison should cooperate with the Committee’s investigation and whether or not he’s worried about the billions of stolen tax dollars in Minnesota.

But instead of even addressing the question, Jeffries went on a baseless attack against Comer and sounded like a bigger retard than Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

“James Comer is a joke, an embarrassment, an unserious individual, and a malignant clown,” Jeffries said before overconfidently pointing to another reporter.

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Media ‘complicity’ blamed as feds say Minnesota fraud crisis could reach $9B: ‘Shown their true colors’

Minnesota’s sprawling fraud crisis has garnered national headlines in recent weeks, but several critics say the problem festered for years, aided by local media that appeared uninterested in holding people in power accountable. 

“In newsrooms, they’re told, ‘We can’t run that because we’re going to be accused of being racist,’” Townhall columnist Dustin Grage recently told Fox News Digital about news outlets in Minnesota essentially enabling the fraud by not calling out shocking taxpayer waste occurring primarily within the local Somali community.

The outlet that is considered by many the top news source in the region, the Minnesota Star Tribune, has faced criticism on social media in recent days over some of its headlines, including “Minnesota Somali community grapples with fraud cases while pushing back against stereotypes” on Nov. 26 and “Trump claims Minnesota lost billions to fraud. The evidence to date isn’t close” on Dec. 11. 

On Thursday, federal prosecutors held a press conference where they revealed that the true scope of the fraud scandal could end up costing taxpayers around $9 billion, prompting some conservatives on social media to point out the Dec. 11 headline.

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Education Secretary Demands Tim Walz Resigns – Somalian Crime Ring Expands

Fraudsters found every angle to syphon money away from taxpayers under Tim Walz’s failed leadership. Education Secretary Linda McMahon is now urging Walz to resign after it emerged that criminals in Minnesota stole over $12 million from the US Department of Education.

“At the beginning of this year, the U.S. Department of Education became aware that fraudulent college applicants, especially concentrated in Minnesota, were gaming the federal postsecondary education system to collect money that was intended for young Americans to help them afford college,” wrote McMahon.

These bad actors used the same ploy to extort money through programs intended to feed poor children and filed applications on behalf of “ghost students” who never existed. These individuals did not need to verify their ID. Some applicants did not even live in the United States if they existed at all. There were 1,834 approved “ghost students” in Minnesota who received a total of $12.5 million in grants and loans.

A teacher at Century College in Minnesota revealed that 15% of his students were “basically an organized crime ring.” Minnesota State College Southeast experienced a spike in new applicants driven by 84 ghost students, who were primarily Somalian. Some of these students enroll in online courses and attend class for the 10 required days to receive financial aid.

“They collected checks from the federal government, shared a small portion of the money with the college, and pocketed the rest — without attending the college at all,” said McMahon. “Our new fraud prevention system has now blocked more than $1 billion in attempted financial aid theft by fraudsters, including coordinated international fraud rings and AI bots pretending to be students.”

Somalian crime organizations have found methods to steal from taxpayers through programs for education, food stamps, COVID, small businesses, childhood disability assistance, and elderly care. The welfare state has become their personal piggy bank. What has Walz done to curtail crime? Absolutely nothing. Over $1 billion has gone missing under Walz, which is far too high to be considered a mere oversight.

Walz plans to seek a third term in 2026, as Minnesota has no term limits for governors. He says that he will take accountability but has not taken any steps to curtail fraud. He refuses to accept that these crime rings are connected to Somalian crime organizations. Walz has every intention of expanding the unregulated welfare state and will not hesitate to raise taxes on the very people these programs are designed to assist.

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