Somalis Reportedly Scamming Minnesota Blind — And Allegedly Sending Some Funds To Islamic Terrorists
Somalis are plundering America’s coffers, according to a City newspaper report released Wednesday.
“Federal counterterrorism sources confirm that millions of dollars in stolen funds were returned to Somalia, where they ultimately landed in the hands of the terrorist group Al-Shabaab,” say Ryan Thorpe and Christopher F. Rufo.
Thorpe and Rufo cite an anonymous source as saying, “Al-Shabaab’s biggest funder is the Minnesota taxpayer.” »
City newspaper cites reports that around 40% of Somali households receive remittances from abroad, totaling $1.7 billion in remittances in 2023.
The City Journal states that “Some of that money was directed to an even more worrying destination: the Al-Qaeda-linked Islamic terrorist group Al-Shabaab. According to multiple law enforcement sources, Minnesota’s Somali community sent millions of dollars through a network of “hawalas,” informal clan-based money dealers, that ended up in the coffers of Al-Shabaab. (RELATED: Blue State Somalis Allegedly Sent Welfare Money to Al Qaeda Ally Who Was Planning Another 9/11)
How do these public funds end up in the hands of Somalis sympathetic to terrorism?
The means available to the Somali community to defraud the state are numerous, according to City newspaper.
Minnesota Medicaid Housing Stabilization Services
Minnesota’s Medicaid Housing Stabilization Services began with the goal of providing housing to the elderly, mentally ill, and addicted to drugs, among others. Thorpe and Rufo say it was designed with “low barriers to entry” and “minimum reimbursement requirements.”
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced fraud charges on September 18 against around 20 Somalis allegedly involved in Housing Stabilization Services program fraud: Moktar Hassan Aden, Mustafa Dayib Ali, Khalid Ahmed Dayib, Abdifitah Mohamud Mohamed, Christopher Adesoji Falade, Emmanuel Oluwademilade Falade.
this is life in Minnesota in 2025
1. My taxes finance the afcom
2. Afcom fights Al Shabaab
3. war creates refugees
4. My taxes fund refugees
5. Refugees are defrauding my state to finance Al Shabaab
6. Afcom funding increases and the cycle repeats https://t.co/cLiAzC5oOf– clean robot (@eigenrobot) November 20, 2025
“I want to be clear about the scale of the crisis. What we see are layered schemes that drain resources away from those who need them. It seems endless. I have spent my career as a fraud prosecutor, and the scale of fraud in Minnesota takes my breath away. The fraud must be stopped,” Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson said in a statement.
The DOJ accuses the defendants of having “obtained[ing] and diversion[ing] millions of dollars in program funds intended to reimburse services provided to the above groups.
Feeding our future
Feeding Our Future was a Minnesota nonprofit founded in 2016.
Its mission, according to a special study by the Minnesota Legislative Auditor’s Office, was “to help young people and seniors access healthy foods.” He did this by purporting to sponsor two federal nutrition programs: the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP).
These programs provide reimbursement for meals and snacks for children and adults (usually low-income). Sponsors are supposed to oversee food distribution sites.
““Feeding Our Future-sponsored organizations were primarily owned and operated by members of Minnesota’s Somali community, according to two former state officials with ties to law enforcement,” say Ryan Thorpe and Christopher F. Rufo.
Feeding Our Future grew rapidly in 2020, increasing its number of sponsored sites amid Covid-19 lockdowns. At least they claimed they were increasing the number of sponsored sites.
Instead, Feeding Our Future managers and employees allegedly conducted a $250 million fraudulent scheme, according to the DOJ. As of publication, 77 defendants have been indicted for their alleged involvement in the scheme, with crimes including: wire fraud, bribery, money laundering and conspiracy. I took a brief look at some of the people convicted by a jury under the Feeding Our Future program. Of 53 people, two had non-Somali names: Aimee Bock, founder and executive director of Feeding Our Future, and Sharon Ross.
“This was a brazen scheme of staggering proportions,” said United States Attorney Andrew M. Luger for the District of Minnesota in 2022. “These defendants exploited a program designed to provide nutritious food to children in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, they prioritized their own greed, stealing more than a quarter of a billion dollars in federal funds to buy luxury cars, homes, jewelry and overseas coastal resort properties.”
Feeding Our Future’s rapid expansion in 2020 caught the attention of Minnesota officials. In turn, Feeding Our Future denounced racial discrimination in a lawsuit.
🚨🇺🇸 FEEDING OUR FUTURE: THE FRAUD THAT EATED MINNESOTA
The FBI camera didn’t just detect a parking lot: it detected a scam in real time.
Safari Restaurant, a so-called “community kitchen” in Minneapolis, claimed to feed 4,000 to 6,000 children per day.
The pictures? 40 people. On a good… https://t.co/75ke1XOBXX pic.twitter.com/JhdUFeiZiz
– Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) November 8, 2025
“It’s the standard operating model for this cohort: When in doubt, invoke racism, invoke bias,” David Gaither, a former Minnesota state senator and nonprofit leader, tells City newspaper. “Even if the facts don’t prove it, it allows many people on the middle or center-left to remain silent.” (RELATED: Midwest Mamdani Fails in Attempt to Become a Socialist in Minneapolis)
Minnesota is home to the largest Somali diaspora in the United States. They are a critical voting bloc, as evidenced by Minneapolis Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey’s brazen pandering to the state’s Somalis, so politicians are understandably reluctant to criticize Somali-led organizations.
“Several people involved in the Feeding Our Future system donated to, or appeared publicly withIlhan Omar, congresswoman of Somali origin from Minneapolis. The deputy director of Omar district, Ali Isse, recommended in the name of Feeding Our Future. Omar Fateh, a former state senator who recently ran for mayor of Minneapolis, puts pressure Governor Tim Walz in support of the program. And one of the defendants, Abdi Nur Salah, was a top aide to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey,” Thorpe and Rufo write.
Federally Funded Autism Services
The DOJ charged Asha Farhan Hassan, 28, with wire fraud on September 24: “for his role in a $14 million autism fraud scheme. Hassan was also accused of participating in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme, for which she received $465,000.
The DOJ alleges that Hassan and others “contacted parents in the Somali community to recruit their children into Smart Therapy,” Hassan’s autism treatment company.
The allegations continue: “When a child did not have an autism diagnosis or an individual treatment plan,” Hassan and his partners still worked with a Qualified Supervisory Professional (QSP) to qualify the child for autism services. “There is no child that Smart Therapy failed to qualify for autism services,” the DOJ asserts.
Hassan and his partners allegedly paid the parents of these children between $300 and $1,500 per month per child. They are also accused of submitting millions of dollars in fraudulent Medicaid reimbursements.
The fact that Hassan was involved in two massive frauds suggests the interconnected nature of these schemes.
As Acting Attorney Joseph H. Thompson said: “Let’s be clear, this is not an isolated project. From Feeding Our Future to Housing Stabilization Services and now Autism Services, these massive fraud schemes form a network that has stolen billions of dollars of taxpayer money. Each case we present exposes another strand of this network. The challenge is immense, but our work continues.
“At least 28 fraud scandals have surfaced since Walz was elected governor in 2019. Most of them large-scale fraud rings, according to two former FBI officials who spoke with City newspaperwere perpetrated by members of the Somali community,” say Thorpe and Rufo.
Somalia has a corruption perception score of 9/100, according to Transparency International, a German non-profit organization dedicated to fighting corruption. The lower the score, the higher the perceived corruption. This means that Somalia ranks 179th out of 180 countries in terms of perceived corruption, making it, based on this measure, a country from which we might be hesitant to import people. (RELATED: Trump says he asked Somali president if he ‘would like to take back’ Ilhan Omar)
On the left are the least corrupt countries in the world. On the right are the most corrupt countries in the world.
Perhaps not all people and cultures are the same. And it’s crazy, I know, but maybe we should have an immigration regime that takes that into account. https://t.co/x1R3kFyJJF pic.twitter.com/2s3bkxfXWV
– Loméz (@L0m3z) November 20, 2025
For comparison, the United States has a perceived corruption score of 65/100 and ranks 28th out of 180 countries in terms of perceived corruption.
Kayseh Magan, aFormer Somali-American Investigator,” published an article in 2024 acknowledging the overrepresentation of the Somali community in Minnesota fraud cases.
“We must address something that is uncomfortable and true: almost all of the defendants in the cases I have listed are from my community, the Somali community,” Magan writes.
Magan notes that “word has spread that Minnesota is a welcoming place, with generous social programs and a history of welcoming immigrants.”
Magan largely attributes Somali fraud to poverty and desperation. This seems like an easy solution. Do all other poor groups commit fraud at similar rates?
Somali involvement in fraud might best be attributed to an attitude that views America as nothing more than an economic enrichment zone, populated by gullible infidels.
Follow Natalie Sandoval on X: @NatSandovalDC
