Tag: welfare

The Minnesota Fraud Scandal Just Got a Whole Lot Worse for Walz and Omar

Earlier this month, over 400 Minnesota Department of Human Services employees accused Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of being “100% responsible” for the massive fraud in Minnesota. I wrote at the time that the Minnesota Somali fraud scandal could take down Walz, and every day it looks even more likely. And what do you know, the scandal just got significantly worse for Walz and Rep. Ilhan Omar. Newly surfaced photographs show both Democrats smiling alongside Abdul Dahir Ibrahim, a Somali national and convicted fraudster who spent decades in America as an illegal immigrant before Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently arrested him.

Ibrahim’s rap sheet stretches back to Canada, where he was convicted of asylum and welfare fraud before slipping into the United States through New York in 1995, following his deportation from Canada. Despite his history, Ibrahim managed to remain in the country for roughly 30 years, accumulating at least a dozen traffic and parking violations along the way. In 2002, he was arrested for driving without a valid license and for providing false information to law enforcement, earning him a fine and one year of probation. An immigration judge ordered his removal on April 3, 2004, citing significant fraud associated with him. Yet Ibrahim wasn’t arrested until 2025, a staggering 21 years after that deportation order was issued.

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What did Ilhan Omar know about the $1B welfare fraud case in her Minnesota district?

US Rep. Ilhan Omar’s close ties to the $1 billion welfare scam in her Minnesota congressional district are being uncovered.

Omar (D-Minn.) held parties at one of the key restaurants named in the fraud, knew one of its now-convicted owners, and one of her own staffers has also been convicted — both for stealing millions. 

Omar even introduced the bill that led to $250 million in fraud. Yet she claims to have been completely unaware of it. 

“[Rep. Omar] knew who these people were. People she personally knew were making tens of millions of dollars in this program,” claimed Bill Glahn, a policy fellow with the Minnesota-based Center of the American Experiment, to The Post. 

“She had been inside the [Safari] facility on numerous occasions and couldn’t put 2 and 2 together? Either she’s terminally naive, or knew and didn’t care,” Glahn added.

Around $250 million was handed out by the Minnesota government to provide meals to schoolchildren during the pandemic from 2020 onward.

Instead, it was pocketed by corrupt business owners, including Salim Ahmed Said. He’s the co-owner of Safari Restaurant, where Omar held her 2018 congressional victory party.

Said was found guilty in August of stealing over $12 million for serving 3.9 million “phantom” meals during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

He blew much of the money on a $2 million Minneapolis mansion and a $9,000-a-month shopping habit at Nordstrom, according to prosecutors.

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James Comer Says Massive Fraud Uncovered in Minnesota is Just the ‘Tip of the Iceberg’ – Will Look at Other States

Congressman James Comer of Kentucky is the chair of the House Oversight Committee. During a recent appearance on FOX News, Comer described the massive fraud uncovered in Minnesota as just the ‘tip of the iceberg.’

Comer indicated that other blue states will be investigated for similar problems.

This is likely the reason why so many blue states have been so reluctant to turn over their SNAP data to Trump Agriculture Secretary Brook Rollins. They know that any examination of this data is likely to uncover huge amounts of fraud and abuse.

If things were this bad in Minnesota, just imagine what’s going on in places like California and New York.

Partial transcript via NewsBusters:

The massive fraud being exposed in Minnesota is just “the tip of the iceberg,” when it comes to social program scams in states run by Democrat governors, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said Wednesday.

Democrat governors like Minnesota’s Tim Walz insist on pouring tax money into social programs where fraud is pervasive – even when they’re alerted to the fraud by whistleblowers, Comer said in an interview with Fox News:

“The fraud entailed a whole menu of government programs – social programs. And that’s the kind of the mojo for the Democrat Party now: they want to sink more and more money into social programs, but yet they refuse to accept responsibility for any type of waste, fraud and abuse.”…

“This is the tip of the iceberg and I think this investigation could lead to many more investigations in other states and, hopefully finally, some savings of taxpayer dollars.”

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Trump Admin To Stop Food Stamp Payments To Democrat States Covering Up Welfare Fraud

he Trump administration announced that it will soon stop food stamp funding to 21 Democrat-led states and Washington, D.C., because they refuse to provide data about recipients, choosing instead to run cover for illegals and massive welfare fraud.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a Tuesday cabinet meeting that 28 states and Guam, run by Republicans, have provided data like names and immigration statuses for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients, but that the remaining Democrat-run states are refusing to comply.

“So as of next week, we have begun and will begin to stop moving federal funds into those states, until they comply and they tell us and allow us to partner with them to root out this fraud and to protect the American taxpayer,” Rollins said at the White House.

Over 20 million SNAP recipients live in the Democrat-run states, nearly half of all 42 million recipients — a enormous number that should make anyone suspicious of the program.

The data was requested earlier this year, but the Democrat states filed a lawsuit claiming the data request violated privacy laws, essentially arguing that the government and taxpayers are not allowed to ensure accountability by tracking people who use the program.

The lawsuit is really a ploy to keep illegal immigrants in the country and on public welfare. As the lawsuit points out, the data could be used to inform better immigration enforcement. While the Trump administration maintains that the data will be used to clean up waste, fraud, and abuse, it should absolutely use the data to help deportation enforcement as well.

SNAP, much like other welfare programs, is notorious for fraud and abuse and often allows people who do not really need food assistance to game the system, not to mention the fact that the program allows recipients to purchase massive amounts of junk food that are clearly not “nutrition” as the program implies.

What’s worse is that 59 percent of illegal immigrant households use at least one welfare program, and 52 percent of legal immigrant households do the same. Native-born households account for 39 percent.

Food assistance like SNAP is one of the biggest categories of welfare for immigrants.

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What Rep. Ilhan Omar Likely Knew of the $1 Billion Welfare Fraud in Minnesota

The massive $1 billion in welfare fraud in Minnesota is causing many to ask what Democrat Representative Ilhan Omar knew and when she knew it about the fraud committed right under her nose by the Somali community in Minnesota.

Reports say that Omar has many close ties to organizations, businesses, and individuals named in the various cases that have uncovered massive fraud of Minnesota’s overly generous welfare schemes, cases that total up to more than a billion dollars in stolen taxpayer money.

For example, Omar has held events and parties at the Minneapolis eatery named Safari Restaurant, an establishment that has been named in some of the investigations looking into the fraud. The owners of this restaurant, Salim Said and Aimee Bock, have already been convicted in the Feeding Our Future case that defrauded $250 million from the state in child food aid.

Omar was reportedly very close to these business owners. The congresswoman held her 2018 congressional victory party at the restaurant with the full participation of its owners and introduced the bill that led to the fraud that enriched them, yet Omar has claimed to know nothing about any of it, Chadwick Moore reported for the New York Post.

Said was found guilty in August of ripping off the state for $12 million in funds that were supposed to be earmarked to feed needy children. The money was stolen from the 2020 MEALS Act, which Omar introduced and saw passed with bipartisan support.

Indeed, Omar was seen on a video recorded in that very restaurant as she touted the program.

That isn’t all. One of Omar’s own campaign officials has also pleaded guilty in one of these cases.

Omar campaign official Guhaad Hashi Said, who is also a Democrat activist, pleaded guilty to running a fake food aid organization called Advance Youth Athletic Development. He claimed to have helped feed 5,000 children with the organization and pulled in $3.2 million in fraudulently awarded funding.

Said worked for Omar from 2018 to 2020 and one of his duties was to turn out the vote in the Somali community. He was a constant presence around Omar throughout that time.

Omar also received donations from several of those involved in these cases. In 2022, she returned $7,400 in direct donations from these convicted fraudsters.

Yet, she maintains she knew nothing, saw nothing, and had no part in the fraud.

Indeed, Omar recently sponsored an op ed in the New York Times published under her name and insisting that Trump’s focus on the massive theft of tax dollars by Minnesota’s Somali community is just “bigotry.”

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USDA Will Withhold SNAP Funds From 21 States That Refused To Provide Data

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins says she will be moving to stop federal funding to 21 non-compliant states that have refused to provide data from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

In February, the Trump administration had asked all states to provide their SNAP data to the federal government as part of the administration’s efforts to root out waste and fraud in the welfare program.

29 mostly Republican-led states provided the data and revealed 500,000 cases of duplicate benefits as well as 186,000 deceased individuals’ Social Security numbers in use.

But 21 mostly Democrat-led states, including California, Minnesota and New York,  have dug in their heels and refused to provide the information, citing concerns over privacy.

Secretary Rollins told reporters that if a state refuses to share data on criminal use of SNAP benefits, “it won’t get a dollar of federal SNAP administrative funding.”

Rollins said that cooperation is needed from all states in order to root out fraud in the SNAP program and that action is impending for those states that refuse to provide names and immigration status of aid recipients.

Speaking at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, Rollins said, “We asked for all the states for the first time to turn over their data to the federal government to let the USDA partner with them to root out this fraud, to make sure that those who really need food stamps are getting them, but also to ensure that the American taxpayer is protected.”

Rollins accused former president Joe Biden of trying to “buy an election” by ramping up food stamp funding by 40% last year.

Roughly 42 million recipients currently use SNAP benefits to help buy their groceries, at an annual cost to taxpayers of nearly $100 billion a year.

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ICE “Strike Teams” Deployed To Minneapolis After Bombshell Somali Welfare-Fraud Report Linked To Overseas Terror

Investigative journalist Christopher Rufo, whose City Journal expose revealed how Minnesota’s Somali community stole billions in taxpayer funds, with money ultimately flowing to a foreign terrorist network, notes that just weeks after his bombshell report, ICE has now mobilized in Minneapolis.

“How it started   …   How it’s going,” Rufo wrote on X on Tuesday evening. 

Rufo cited a report from the New York Times that said the Trump administration launched a massive ICE enforcement operation in the Minneapolis and St. Paul area, set to target hundreds of illegal alien Somalis. 

According to an official with knowledge of the deportation operation and documents obtained by the NYT, about 100 federal agents have been deployed to the Minneapolis-St. Paul region as part of a new “strike team” to deport Somali illegal aliens who are a net drain on public resources.

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Hundreds of Minnesota Gov’t Staffers Say Gov. Tim Walz Hid Somali Fraud and ‘Attacked Whistleblowers’

Nearly 500 employees in Minnesota’s state government say Democrat Governor Tim Walz ignored their constant warnings about massive fraud by Somalis of the state’s aid programs.

The staffers in the state’s Department of Health Services also say that Walz retaliated against them for exposing the corruption in the state’s Somali community.

The group of state employees have been operating an X account for several years where they have warned the public of the cases of fraud and theft they are finding in the aid program. In years past they warned the former Democrat vice presidential nominee and the citizens of Minnesota of the widespread issues they have uncovered. But in a new post, the group is saying that not only has Walz ignored their warnings, he has punished them for raising the alarm.

“Tim Walz is 100% responsible for massive fraud in Minnesota,” the group said in a November 29 post referencing a New York Times article on the crimes. “We let Tim Walz know of fraud early on, hoping for a partnership in stopping fraud, but no, we got the opposite response.”

They added, “Tim Walz systematically retaliated against whistleblowers using monitoring, threats, repression, and did his best to discredit fraud reports. Instead of partnership, we got the full weight of retaliation by Tim Walz, certain DFL members, and an indifferent mainstream media. It’s scary, isolating, and left us wondering who we can turn to.”

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Treasury to probe whether Somali terror group al Shabaab receiving Minnesota welfare money: Bessent

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced an investigation into Somali terror group al Shabaab allegedly receiving Minnesota welfare money,

“At my direction, @USTreasury is investigating allegations that under the feckless mismanagement of the Biden Administration and Governor Tim Walz, hardworking Minnesotans’ tax dollars may have been diverted to the terrorist organization Al-Shabaab,” Bessent posted on X on Monday.

“Thanks to the leadership of @POTUS @realDonaldTrump, we are acting fast to ensure Americans’ taxes are not funding acts of global terror. We will share our findings as our investigation continues.”

Bessent reposted a City Journal article from last month that alleged millions of dollars from Minnesota state welfare programs had “ultimately landed in the hands of the terror group Al-Shabaab,” citing law enforcement sources, CBS News reported.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s (D) office directed the news outlet to remarks last week in which the governor said he welcomes an investigation into where defrauded welfare money went and would work with investigators.

In 2019, a report by Minnesota’s Office of the Legislative Auditor said it was “unable to substantiate” allegations that Child Care Assistance Program funding is going to terrorist groups, but it didn’t rule it out, saying it’s “possible” that state funds may have been sent overseas and eventually found its way to terrorists.

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NY Times Admits Somalis Are ‘Raised in a Culture of Stealing’ Following Massive Welfare Fraud in Minnesota

Even the far-left New York Times has admitted that Somalians are raised in a culture of widespread theft and graft in their country as the news of massive welfare fraud among the Somali community in Democrat Gov. Tim Walz’s Minnesota grows.

The paper’s opening line for its Nov. 29 article gets straight to the point, reading, “The fraud scandal that rattled Minnesota was staggering in its scale and brazenness.”

There have been an astounding series of cases of hundreds of millions of dollars in fraud in state welfare, housing, healthcare, food, COVID relief and other programs, much of it centered on members of the Somali community.

The fraud has been so endemic in Minnesota that even the usually far-left Times is joining Breitbart News and calling it out. Indeed, the paper even noted that early on many liberals waved off the fraud as a “one-off abuse,” but as each new case rolled out from federal prosecutors the sense of alarm has grown and the blame is undeniable.

“Over the last five years, law enforcement officials say, fraud took root in pockets of Minnesota’s Somali diaspora as scores of individuals made small fortunes by setting up companies that billed state agencies for millions of dollars’ worth of social services that were never provided,” the Times reported.

The paper does not spare exposure of the Somali community.

Macalester College professor Ahmed Samatar, a Somali native, said that the fraud among Minnesota’s Somali migrants should not be surprising. The Times added that “Somali refugees who came to the United States after their country’s civil war were raised in a culture in which stealing from the country’s dysfunctional and corrupt government was widespread.”

The fraud has been so deep that it has undermined all of the state’s welfare programs.

“No one will support these programs if they continue to be riddled with fraud,” federal prosecutor Joseph H. Thompson told the media. “We’re losing our way of life in Minnesota in a very real way.”

One of the first such cases centered around an organization called “Feeding Our Future,” run by a group of Minneapolis-area Somali migrants. Prosecutors say that the organizers bilked $250 million from the state in child food assistance funding.

In a different case, tens of millions were stolen from Minnesota’s autism treatment program, again by Somali migrants. There is also the case of more than $550 million stolen from the state’s coronavirus pandemic relief program.

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