House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) is calling for an investigation into millions of dollars of Minnesota taxpayer funds ending up in the hands of the Al-Qaida linked terrorist group Al-Shabaab, Breitbart News has learned.
In a letter addressed to U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota Daniel Rosen — which was provided to Breitbart News exclusively, Emmer spoke about how “officials estimate one billion dollars have been stolen” under Gov. Tim Walz’s (D-MN) administration. Emmer added that he was requesting a “thorough investigation into reports” regarding stolen funds being sent to Somalia through “the hawala network and into” the hands of terrorists.
Emmer’s letter comes after a report from City Journal revealed that “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.”:
In many cases, the fraud has allegedly been perpetrated by members of Minnesota’s sizeable Somali community. 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. As on confidential source put it: “The largest funder of Al-Shabaab is the Minnesota taxpayer.”
“Given the inaction and improper handling of fraud by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and his administration, we are urging you, as the new U.S. Attorney, to open an investigation into reports that Minnesota taxpayer dollars are ending up in the hands of the Al-Shabaab terrorist network in Somalia,” Emmer said in his letter.
“As you know, officials estimate one billion dollars have been stolen under the Walz administration,” Emmer added. “Since 2020, we have written the Walz administration on numerous occasions inquiring about the Feeding our Future fraud scheme, as well as fraud in the Housing Stabilization Services (HSS) program, Child Care Assistance program, and Minnesota’s Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention (EIDBI) program, with no avail.”
Emmer went on to cite the report from City Journal, and expressed that he was “deeply concerned” by the reports that millions of dollars of stolen taxpayer funds in Minnesota had ended up in the hands of Al-Shabaab terrorists.
“Specifically, it is alleged that Minnesota’s Somali community, the largest in the nation, has been sending millions back to Somalia via the hawala network, an informal money trafficking network which is notorious for funds ending up in terrorist networks, and in this instance, Al-Shabaab,” Emmer added. “These allegations follow criminal indictments for fraud against six members of the Somali community in September, relating to hundreds of millions of dollars in fraudulent payments for the HSS program.”
City Journal reported that in a September, 18 press releases from the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota, “criminal indictments for HSS fraud” for eight people were announced. Out of the eight people, six are reportedly “members of Minnesota’s Somalia community.”:
On September 18, Thompson announced criminal indictments for HSS fraud against Moktar Hassan Aden, Mustafa Dayib Ali, Khalid Ahmed Dayib, Abdifitah Mohamud Mohamed, Christopher Adesoji Falade, Emmanuel Oluwademilade Falade, Asad Ahmed Adow, and Anwar Ahmed Adow—six of whom, according a U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesperson, are members of Minnesota’s Somali community. Thompson made clear that this is just the first round of charges for HSS fraud that his office will be prosecuting.
“Most of these cases, unlike a lot of Medicare fraud and Medicaid fraud cases nationally, aren’t just overbilling,” Thompson said at a press conference announcing the indictments. “These are often just purely fictious companies solely created to defraud the system, and that’s unique in the extent to which we have that here in Minnesota.”
“It is bad enough that these individuals are defrauding our state, taking services and funds away from children and the most vulnerable, but now there is a good reason to believe that Minnesota taxpayer dollars are going straight into terrorists’ hands,” Emmer added in his letter.
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