Millions of Minnesota taxpayer dollars, meant to help the vulnerable, have reportedly been siphoned off to bankroll a terrorist outfit halfway across the world, as Fox News reports.
A stunning investigation by the Manhattan Institute's Ryan Thorpe and Christopher F. Rufo has exposed a labyrinth of fraud in Minnesota, where public funds from programs like Medicaid Housing Stabilization Services (HSS) and Feeding Our Future were allegedly funneled to Al-Shabaab, an al Qaeda-linked terror group in Somalia, through intricate money transfer networks.
The scheme, according to the report, often involved members of Minnesota’s Somali community exploiting state and federal programs designed to support the needy.
Let’s rewind to the HSS program, launched with noble intentions to assist struggling Minnesotans, only to balloon into a cesspool of deceit with claims skyrocketing from an estimated $2.6 million to over $21 million in its first year.
By the first half of 2025, payouts hit a staggering $61 million before the state’s Department of Human Services finally pulled the plug on Aug. 1, terminating payments to 77 providers over credible fraud allegations.
Then came the indictments -- on Sept. 18, the U.S. Attorney’s Office named eight individuals, all from the Somali community, in connection with HSS fraud, signaling a crackdown on this runaway scam.
Meanwhile, the Feeding Our Future program, which ballooned from $3.4 million in federal funds in 2019 to nearly $200 million by 2021, turned out to be another house of cards built on fake meal counts and doctored records.
Instead of feeding hungry kids, the funds allegedly bought luxury cars and properties in the U.S., Turkey, and Kenya. It's hardly the “future” anyone envisioned for underprivileged children.
On Sept. 18, a 56th defendant pleaded guilty in this scheme, and by Nov. 20, charges hit a 77th individual, showing just how deep this rabbit hole goes.
The real gut punch? Federal counterterrorism sources confirmed millions of these stolen dollars landed in Somalia, straight into the hands of Al-Shabaab, via informal money transfer systems known as hawalas.
As Ryan Thorpe and Christopher F. Rufo pointedly asked, “Where did the money go?” Well, if a confidential source is to be believed, it’s a bitter pill: “The largest funder of Al-Shabaab is the Minnesota taxpayer.”
That quote stings, but let’s face it -- when 40% of Somali households rely on remittances, and the diaspora sent $1.7 billion to Somalia in 2023 (more than the government’s budget), it’s not hard to see how funds can slip into the wrong hands, even if indirectly.
Adding insult to injury, another scheme targeting autism services for children emerged, with one individual from the Somali community, already tied to Feeding Our Future, accused of a $14 million fraud against a state behavioral intervention program.
This scam allegedly involved recruiting kids, faking diagnoses, and offering cash kickbacks to families—yet another example of exploiting goodwill for personal gain.
These aren’t just isolated incidents; they’re a pattern of systemic abuse of taxpayer trust, and as Minnesota State Rep. Kristin Robbins declared, “Billions of our tax dollars have been stolen under [Tim Walz]. We need help from [Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel] and our partners at [the U.S. Attorney's Office] to find out if our state dollars are funding terrorism.” Her call for accountability hits hard—shouldn’t we demand answers when public funds might be arming terror groups?
