A new video clip is going viral on social media, showing agents with the Department of Homeland Security raiding Somali businesses in the state of Minnesota and finding “mountains of evidence.” In the video, several agents, decked out with masks and bulletproof vests can be seen carrying large boxes full of files and other kinds of evidence that reveals these businesses engaged in activity to defraud taxpayers of money that was designed for specific programs in the state.
Federal investigators are now investigating a very intricate and deeply connected web of fraud to determine how this happened and how much money was lost in the process. The White House recently published a press release revealing that nine federal agencies are now working on various parts of a widespread fraud problem that crosses several different Minnesota programs. Those programs include pandemic food aid, healthcare, housing, and even unemployment benefits.
The hub of the federal response into the fraud is the Justice Department. The DOJ stated that it’s conducting several active criminal investigations that are tied to Minnesota programs, including Feeding Our Future, Housing Stabilization Services, and several care programs connected to Medicaid. The press release also said that the DOJ has already charged 100 defendants for fraud-related crimes, issued thousands of subpoenas, executed a high number of search warrants, and has conducted thousands of witness interviews as part of these cases.
According to KATV, the FBI is supporting those prosecutions by sending out teams of forensic accountants and data analysts into Minnesota. The bureau is mostly focusing their efforts on health care and home-care providers who have been accused of billing for services that weren’t provided. They are also looking over potential links to financial crime networks.
DHS has also reported that hundreds of investigators are now on the ground in Minnesota, visiting sites and conducting door-to-door inspections at locations that have been suspected of fraud. The agency said that they have found over 1,300 potential fraud findings during their site visits in the cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis. They are also combing through some of the cases to look for refugee status and possible denaturalization.
Another agency that has joined the effort to untie this massive knot of fraud is the Department of Health and Human Services, which is focused on the flow of money. The White House press release says that HHS has frozen certain child care payments, is requiring receipts or photo evidence for claims made, and has even started probes into the Minnesota Head Start program for allegedly misusing funds. Medicaid repayment rules that have previously not been used in years are now, finally, being enforced.
Trying to pin down a final number totaling up just how much money has been stolen is proving to be a difficult task. Federal prosecutors are currently estimating the total to be around $9 billion. However, officials have been careful to note that this number is not final and has not been completely audited or adjudicated. In other words, the total could be lower or much, much higher.
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Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video