FBI deploys more resources to ‘dismantle fraud schemes’ in Minnesota | FBI
The FBI is sending additional personnel and investigative resources to Minnesota to “dismantle large-scale fraud schemes that exploit federal programs,” Director Kash Patel said in a statement on social media Sunday.
The FBI director said the agency had already dismantled one system. $250 million fraud scheme who stole federal food aid meant for vulnerable children during the Covid pandemic in a case that led to 78 charges and 57 convictions.
Patel said the FBI believes “this is just the tip of a very large iceberg.” Some of those involved in the alleged scheme are being “referred to immigration authorities for possible further denaturalization and, where appropriate, deportation.”
Patel’s comments came after federal prosecutors estimated that as much as $9 billion was stolen through schemes linked to the state’s Somali population; this figure is almost equivalent to Somalia’s entire GDP.
The FBI director also said he was aware of recent social media reports in Minnesota. online report It was reported by independent journalist Nick Shirley that a day care center in Minneapolis received $4 million despite having no registered children. The 42-minute video has been viewed 84 million times since it was posted on December 26.
Patel said the FBI deployed personnel and resources to the state before the video and chat went viral.
The Trump administration has portrayed the Somali immigrant community in Minnesota as the focus of widespread fraud, many of which were allegedly committed during the Covid pandemic.
Last month, Donald Trump stripped legal protections for Somalis in Minnesota and accused the state of being a “hub of fraudulent money laundering activity” under its Democratic governor, Tim Walz.
Trump said Somali Americans “came from hell,” “contributed nothing,” and “should go back where they came from.” He also called Minnesota’s Democratic representative Ilhan Omar “garbage” and said “her friends are garbage.”
Omar called Trump’s “obsession” with her and Somali Americans “creepy and unhealthy.”
“We are not to be feared, and neither am I,” Omar said earlier this month, adding that “we will not be made scapegoats.”
Omar accused Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents of taking her constituents off the streets, including interrogating her son. He said he was forced to answer questions about his own immigration status.
One report In an article in the Minnesota Star Tribune published Friday, Omar called Trump’s immigration policy during his first administration “cruel,” and “now it’s completely dangerous and deeply inhumane” and “addressed to this kind of white supremacist view of what America should be.”
And he worries that “we’re not even at the worst yet, there’s probably more to come.”
Omar, her husband and former political advisor Tim Mynett’s $25 million venture capital firm, Rose Lake CapitalIt recently deleted details of key officials from its website after questions were raised about the couple’s wealth.
The couple’s net worth increased 3,500% in just one year, According to reportsand their net worth is currently between $6 million and $30 million. The venture capital firm alone is worth between $5 million and $25 million, according to the filing.
Firm officials and advisors removed from Rose Lake Capital’s website include Adam Ereli, Barack Obama’s former ambassador to Bahrain; Obama’s Ambassador to China Max Baucus; Alex Hoffman, former finance chairman of the Democratic National Committee; and former DNC treasurer William Derrough.
Omar has not been accused of abuse of power, but reports say three men accused of defrauding the state claim to have ties to the congresswoman.
Asked for support Food Law, Omar says a bill changing school lunch reimbursement rules during the pandemic has been linked to fraudulent systems Fox News Digitalit contributed nothing to the fraud and “helped feed the children”.
