House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) is now calling for an investigation into how millions of taxpayer dollars from his state ended up being sent off to a radical Islamic terrorist group, Al-Shabaab, which has ties to Al-Qaida. Emmer crafted a letter addressed to U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota Daniel Rosen, noting that under the leadership of current Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, “officials estimate one billion dollars have been stolen.”
He then added his request for a “thorough investigation into reports” concerning stolen funds being funneled to Somalia via the “hawala network and into” terrorist hands. The letter comes after a report published by City Journal discovered 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.”
The report stated that in many cases, the fraud has allegedly been carried out by individuals within the large Somali community in Minnesota. Sources within the government’s counterterrorism division confirmed that millions of dollars in stolen funds were sent to Somalia. From there, the cash ended up in the possession of Al-Shabaab. A confidential source summed everything up perfectly by saying, “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 went on to say in his letter, according to Breitbart.
“As you know, officials estimate one billion dollars have been stolen under the Walz administration,” Emmer’s letter continued. “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.”
The GOP Majority Whip then cited the City Journal report, stating he was “deeply concerned” by taxpayer funds ending 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 said.
He 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.” The outlet also revealed that in September a total of 18 press releases were put out by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota that announced, “criminal indictments for HSS fraud” for eight individuals.
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Six of those people are reportedly “members of Minnesota’s Somali community.” The names of those indicted are: 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 those listed are members of the Somali community in the state. And, according to Thompson, this is only the beginning. More individuals are going to be indicted soon and face prosecution for fraud. “Most of these cases, unlike a lot of Medicare fraud and Medicaid fraud cases nationally, aren’t just overbilling,” Thompson stated during a press conference discussing the indictments. “These are often just purely fictitious companies solely created to defraud the system, and that’s unique in the extent to which we have that here in Minnesota.”
Emmer wrapped up his letter, writing, “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.”
Featured image: screenshot from embedded video