47 Members Of Minnesota’s Somali Community Indicted For $250M COVID Relief Scheme
Bo Banks
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The Department of Justice (DOJ) has indicted 47 members of Minnesota’s Somali community for stealing $250 million dollars worth of Covid relief that was meant for child nutrition.
DOJ: 47 in Minnesota's Somali Community Charged with Stealing $250M in COVID-19 Funds https://t.co/v0XiakgEKr
— PA VOTER (Marla) (@PAKAG2020) September 23, 2022
As reported by Breitbart, federal prosecutors charged 47 individuals involved in the massive fraud scheme of “committed conspiracy, wire fraud, bribery, and money laundering.”
The members allegedly defrauded millions from the Federal Child Nutrition Program during the COVID-19 pandemic.
More from Breitbart: “The scheme included Feeding Our Future allegedly claiming to open more than 250 Federal Child Nutrition Program sites across the state of Minnesota.”
“Most of the 47 individuals claimed to operate these sites by filing fraudulent documents purporting to be feeding children, prosecutors allege,” the outlet added.
Click here to see the names of those charged in the multiple indictments.
The outlet Kare 11 reported that only seven of the 47 individuals were taken into Minnesota law enforcement custody.
Of those seven, two individuals were previously charged with passport fraud. While the others have since been released from jail while they await trials.
More to Breitbart:
Feeding Our Future executives, prosecutors claim, knew all along that the fraud was taking place but continued to submit fraudulent documents to secure Federal Child Nutrition Program funds for the sites claiming to be feeding children.
In the process, Feeding Our Future was paid more than $18 million in administrative fees and employees of the nonprofit allegedly accepted bribes and kickbacks. When Minnesota regulators sought to provide oversight to the operation, a Feeding Our Future executive claimed the state was discriminating against the nonprofit.
According to federal prosecutors, those involved with the COVID-19 scheme used the stolen funds to purchase luxury vehicles, residential and commercial real estate, and real estate in Kenya and Turkey.
They also used the money to fund international travel.
Though the amount of COVID-19 scams and fraud related to pandemic relief (which was notably given out with “zero strings attached”) are everywhere. This story hits home because the fraudsters stole from an actual community in need – hungry children.
These criminals wanted to take advantage of a poorly run system to make themselves filthy rich. Fortunately, they were caught. But how many more schemes are there?
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