In some massive news for those wanting to see fraudsters held accountable for their awful crimes against the public, the Department of Justice and FBI announced that it had arrested nearly 6 dozen fraudsters in the deep blue state of Minnesota over a scheme in which they stole $250 million from a program meant to feed hungry children.
As background, the $250 million fraud scheme targeted a children’s nutrition program that was created during the COVID-19 pandemic and called “Feeding our Future.” It was meant to reimburse the costs of feeding children during the pandemic, so as to keep kids well fed as schools closed and general upheaval reigned.
While the program was well-intentioned, it was targeted by fraudsters in Minnesota who sensed an opportunity to pilfer hundreds of millions of dollars from federal taxpayers, thus near-literally taking food out of the mouths of hungry children by scamming the program that was meant to feed them in a time of great need.
In the scheme, the 70 conspirators falsely claimed to have served meals to hungry children during the pandemic, and requested reimbursement from the federal government for having done so. In reality, however, they pocketed the money and spent it on lavish mansions, luxury cars, expensive clothing, and like objects.
Fox News Digital, adding more details on what happened, noted that the collection of alleged conspirators did everything from fabricating invoices to submitting fake attendance records to pretend it had delivered thousands of meals to hungry children through hundreds of food distribution sites across the state.
They temporarily got away with that because the USDA had waived, for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the typical requirements for participating in the Federal Child Nutrition Program. So, they were able to pretend that 300 food sites in the state were delivering meals, whereas in reality, they served little to no food, and the supposed vendors laundered money.
Now, those involved in the scheme that pretended to deliver food while really just stealing and laundering money are being held to account for their awful crimes. Of the 70 alleged conspirators indicted for the horrid crime, 38 have so far pleaded guilty and another dozen of them are, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, awaiting criminal trials that will begin in August and hold to account those who refuse to admit their guilt.
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In a statement on the matter that was posted to X and delivered to Fox News Digital, FBI Director Kash Patel noted that this was utterly shameless and awful behavior, saying, “Stealing over $250 million from hungry kids during a pandemic to fund mansions and luxury cars is as shameless as it gets.”
Continuing, he went on to add that the FBI will hold such people accountable, regardless of how long it takes and difficult it is to dismantle the web of corruption. He said, “I’m proud of the FBI and our partners for dismantling this web of corruption, holding dozens accountable, and sending a clear message: if you exploit the most vulnerable, we will find you and bring you to justice.”
Watch Jesse Watters expose much of the scandal here: