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Minnesota Republicans Press Federal Probe Into Reports Welfare Fraud Money Reached Al‑Shabaab

The request seeks clarity on reports that stolen funds were routed through hawala networks to Somalia.

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The Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul. According to a recent report, former federal counterterrorism officials say they believe portions of the money stolen from Minnesota’s Medicaid and social-service programs were routed overseas through informal cash-transfer networks known as hawalas. (STEVE KARNOWSKI/AP)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN. - SEPTEMBER 2022: U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger today announced a significant COVID-related fraud case based in Minnesota, Tuesday, September 20, 2022 Minneapolis, Minn. The director of the Twin Cities-based Feeding Our Future nonprofit and 46 other people have been charged in what federal prosecutors say was a "massive scheme" to defraud the government of more than $250 million meant to feed needy children during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a news conference in Minneapolis on Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger described it as the largest pandemic fraud in the country, and the charges amount to one of the largest federal fraud cases ever brought in Minnesota. Six indictments were unsealed Tuesday that describe alleged crimes including wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering and bribery. (Photo by Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune via Getty Images)

Overview

  • Reps. Tom Emmer, Michelle Fischbach, Brad Finstad, and Pete Stauber asked U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen to open an investigation into claims that Minnesota taxpayer funds wound up with Al‑Shabaab.
  • Federal prosecutors have characterized the fraud as among the nation’s largest, charging dozens across housing assistance, pandemic child‑nutrition, and autism‑therapy billing schemes with losses estimated in the billions, while any terror‑financing link remains unproven.
  • Former counterterrorism officials report that some stolen funds likely traveled through informal hawala transfers and that Al‑Shabaab routinely takes a cut once money reaches Somalia.
  • Minnesota House GOP leaders issued a parallel call for action, urging federal authorities to scrutinize alleged illicit remittances tied to the widening fraud cases.
  • President Trump said he would seek to end Temporary Protected Status for Somalis, and local community leaders in Minneapolis denounced the move as politically driven.