Somalis Reportedly Scamming Minnesota Blind — And Allegedly Sending Some Funds To Islamic Terrorists

Somalis are allegedly looting America’s coffers, according to a City Journal report published Wednesday.

“Federal counterterrorism sources confirm that millions of dollars in stolen funds have been sent back to Somalia, where they ultimately landed in the hands of the terror group Al-Shabaab,” Ryan Thorpe and Christopher F. Rufo claim.

Thorpe and Rufo cite an anonymous source who alleges, “The largest funder of Al-Shabaab is the Minnesota taxpayer.”

City Journal cites reports that about 40% of households in Somalia receive remittances from abroad, totaling $1.7 billion in remittances in 2023.

City Journal claims that “some of this money has been directed to an even more troubling destination: the al-Qaida-linked Islamic terror group Al-Shabaab. According to multiple law-enforcement sources, Minnesota’s Somali community has sent untold millions through a network of ‘hawalas,’ informal clan-based money-traders, that have wound up in the coffers of Al-Shabaab.” (RELATED: Blue State Somalis Allegedly Sent Welfare Money To Al-Qaeda Ally Planning Another 9/11)

How do these taxpayer funds reportedly end up in the hands of terrorist-sympathizing Somalis in the first place?

The Somali community’s means of allegedly defrauding the state were many, according to City Journal.

Minnesota’s Medicaid Housing Stabilization Services

Minnesota’s Medicaid Housing Stabilization Services began with the goal of providing housing for senior citizens, the mentally ill, and drug addicts, among others. Thorpe and Rufo claim it was designed with “low barriers to entry” and “minimal requirements for reimbursement.”

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced fraud charges on Sept. 18 for a score of Somalis allegedly involved in defrauding the Housing Stabilization Services Program: Moktar Hassan Aden, Mustafa Dayib Ali, Khalid Ahmed Dayib, Abdifitah Mohamud Mohamed, Christopher Adesoji Falade, Emmanuel Oluwademilade Falade.

heres life in minnesota in 2025

1. my tax dollars fund afcom
2. afcom fights al shabaab
3. the war makes refugees
4. my tax dollars fund refugees
5. refugees defraud my state to fund al shabaab
6. afcom funding goes up and the cycle repeats https://t.co/cLiAzC5oOf

— eigenrobot (@eigenrobot) November 20, 2025

“I want to be clear on the scope of the crisis. What we see are schemes stacked upon schemes, draining resources meant for those in need. It feels never ending. I have spent my career as a fraud prosecutor and the depth of the 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 “obtain[ing] and misappropriat[ing] millions of dollars in program funds that were intended as reimbursements for services provided to” the aforementioned groups.

Feeding Our Future

Feeding Our Future was a Minnesota nonprofit founded in 2016.

Its mission, according to a special review from Minnesota’s Office of the Legislative Auditor, was to “help youth and seniors access healthy foods.” It did this by claiming to sponsor two federal nutrition programs: the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and Summer Food Service Program (SFSP).

These programs provide reimbursements for meals and snacks for (typically low-income) children and adults. Sponsors are supposed to oversee food distribution sites.

“The organizations that Feeding Our Future sponsored were primarily owned and operated by members of Minnesota’s Somali community, according to two former state officials with connections to law enforcement,” say Ryan Thorpe and Christopher F. Rufo.

Feeding Our Future rapidly expanded in 2020, increasing its number of sponsored sites in the midst of Covid-19 lockdowns. At least, they claimed they were increasing their sponsored sites.

Instead, Feeding Our Future executives and employees allegedly carried out a $250 million fraud scheme, according to the DOJ. As of publication, 77 defendants have been charged for their alleged involvement in the scheme, for crimes including: wire fraud, bribery, money laundering, and conspiracy. I took a brief look at some of those convicted by a jury in the Feeding Our Future scheme. 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 then U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger for the District of Minnesota in 2022. “These defendants exploited a program designed to provide nutritious food to needy children during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, they prioritized their own greed, stealing more than a quarter of a billion dollars in federal funds to purchase luxury cars, houses, jewelry, and coastal resort property abroad.”

Feeding Our Future’s rapid expansion in 2020 attracted attention from Minnesota officials. In turn, Feeding Our Future cried racial discrimination in a lawsuit.

🚨🇺🇸 FEEDING OUR FUTURE: THE FRAUD THAT ATE MINNESOTA

The FBI’s camera didn’t just catch a parking lot – it caught a scam in real time.

Safari Restaurant, a supposed “community kitchen” in Minneapolis, claimed to feed 4,000–6,000 kids a day.

The footage? 40 people. On a good… https://t.co/75ke1XOBXX pic.twitter.com/JhdUFeiZiz

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) November 8, 2025

“That’s the standard operating playbook for that cohort: when in doubt, claim racism, claim bias,” says David Gaither, a former Minnesota state senator and a nonprofit leader, to City Journal. “Even if the facts don’t point to that, it allows for many folks in the middle, or on the center-Left, to stay silent.” (RELATED: Midwest Mamdani Fails In Bid To Turn Minneapolis Socialist)

Minnesota is home to the largest Somali diaspora in the United States. They form a critical voting bloc, as evidenced by Democratic Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s shameless pandering to Somalis in the state, so politicians are understandably reticent to criticize Somali-led organizations.

“Several individuals involved in the Feeding Our Future scheme donated to, or appeared publicly with, Ilhan Omar, the Somali-born congresswoman from Minneapolis. Omar’s deputy district director, Ali Isse, advocated on behalf of Feeding Our Future. Omar Fateh, a former state senator who recently ran for Minneapolis mayor, lobbied Governor Tim Walz in support of the program. And one of the accused, Abdi Nur Salah, served as a senior aide to Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey,” write Thorpe and Rufo.

Federally Funded Autism Services

The DOJ charged 28-year-old Asha Farhan Hassan with wire fraud on Sept. 24, “for her role in a $14 million autism fraud scheme. Hassan was also charged with participating in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme, for which she received $465,000.”

The DOJ alleges that Hassan and others “approached parents in the Somali community to recruit their children into Smart Therapy,” Hassan’s autism treatment company.

The allegations continue: “Where a child did not have an autism diagnosis and an individual treatment plan,” Hassan and her partners worked with a Qualified Supervision Professional (QSP) to qualify the child for autism services anyway. “There was no child that Smart Therapy was not able to get qualified for autism services,” the DOJ claims.

Hassan and her partners allegedly paid the parents of those children between $300 and $1500 per month, per child. They are also accused of submitting millions of dollars of fraudulent Medicaid reimbursements.

That Hassan was allegedly involved in two massive frauds suggests the interconnected nature of these schemes.

As Acting Attorney Joseph H. Thompson said, “To be clear, this is not an isolated scheme. From Feeding Our Future to Housing Stabilization Services and now Autism Services, these massive fraud schemes form a web that has stolen billions of dollars in taxpayer money. Each case we bring 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 the large-scale fraud rings, according to two former FBI officials who spoke with City Journal, have been perpetrated by members of the Somali community,” Thorpe and Rufo claim.

Somalia has a corruption perception score of 9/100, according to Transparency International, a German non-profit dedicated to anti-corruption work. The lower the score, the higher the perceived corruption. That means Somalia ranks 179 out of 180 countries in terms of perceived corruption, making it, based on this measure, a country we might hesitate to import people from. (RELATED: Trump Says He Asked Somalia President If He’d ‘Like To Take’ Ilhan Omar Back)

On the left is the least corrupt countries in the world. On the right is the most corrupt countries in the world.

Maybe not all people and cultures are the same. And, crazy, I know, but maybe we should have an immigration regime that takes this into account. https://t.co/x1R3kFyJJF pic.twitter.com/2s3bkxfXWV

— Lomez (@L0m3z) November 20, 2025

For comparison’s sake, the United States has a perceived corruption score of 65/100 and ranks 28 out of 180 countries in terms of perceived corruption.

Kayseh Magan, a “Somali-American former investigator,” published an article in 2024 acknowledging the Somali community’s overrepresentation in Minnesota fraud cases.

“We must grapple with something that is uncomfortable and true: Nearly all of the defendants in the cases I’ve listed are from my community. The Somali community,” Magan writes.

Magan notes that “word spread that Minnesota is an inviting place, with generous social programs and a history of welcoming immigrants.”

Magan largely attributes Somali fraud to poverty and desperation. That seems like an easy out. Is every other impoverished group committing fraud at similar rates?

Somali involvement in fraud might be better attributed to an attitude which sees America purely as a zone of economic enrichment, filled with gullible infidels.

Follow Natalie Sandoval on X: @NatSandovalDC