HUD joins other federal authorities investigating $1 billion fraud in Minnesota’s Somali community

The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development has joined U.S. Treasury, U.S. Customs and Immigration and other federal authorities investigating what apparently is a massive fraud scheme in the Somali community that has established itself in Minnesota, and has cost American taxpayers a billion dollars or more.

A recent City Journal investigation found that fraud in the Somali immigrant community in Minnesota was taking hundreds of millions, even billions, of dollars from taxpayers, and much of it was going to Somalia, where it was delivered into the hands of al-Shabaab terrorists.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, whose investigators already were looking into the scandal, recently confirmed the organizations that shift money from one part of the world to another, from the U.S. to Somalia, for example, are being investigated.

Egregious fraud in Minnesota has cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, including funds sent to Somalia through money services businesses (MSBs), which provide financial services outside a formal bank.

Under @POTUS’ leadership, the @USTreasury will not stop until we…

— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) December 12, 2025

Now a report at the Washington Examiner confirms the Department of Housing and Urban Development is joining the project.

It has sent federal investigators to Minnesota, mainly St. Paul and Minneapolis where resides a huge, as in tens of thousands, community of Somali immigrants.

HUD officials said, in the report, the agency is putting Minnesota “on notice, that we are taking enforcement and fiscal oversight seriously given the rampant fraud.”

The review will include a look, by officials at its headquarters, of money that has gone through Minnesota’s public housing authorities, in order to make certain there is no fraud going on in federal housing aid.

The report said the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority spends $108 million annually on housing choice vouchers and public housing, while St. Paul spends $46 million.

The report explained the main scandal involves Feeding Our Future, a nonprofit group that claims it gave millions of meals to children during the pandemic, and cashed in on payments of $300 million.

And HUD Secretary Scott Turner has revealed the department has cut funding for Somalis who have temporary protected status. That allows illegal immigrants from certain countries to apply for, and if granted, be protected from deportation for a time.

Online reports explained, “The Department of Housing and Urban Development dispatched federal investigators to Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, to scrutinize federally funded aid programs amid revelations of a $1 billion welfare fraud scheme primarily involving Somali immigrants. A HUD spokesperson confirmed the action follows similar probes by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, placing the region on notice for heightened enforcement and fiscal oversight.”

NEW: The Department of Housing and Urban Development dispatched federal investigators to Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, to scrutinize federally funded aid programs amid revelations of a $1 billion welfare fraud scheme primarily involving Somali immigrants.

A HUD… pic.twitter.com/I4NKDivuFR

— Melissa Hallman (@dotconnectinga) December 15, 2025

White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller has confirmed in an interview that the welfare fraud scandal in Minnesota centered around Somali immigrants could make for the “greatest financial fraud” in the history of the United States.

Miller charged that records show “90% of Somali households with children are on federal welfare. The real number is probably 100% because federal records always undercount. You’re talking about a population that has been imported into Minnesota in which virtually every single member of the population is receiving welfare from the federal government. This could very well end up, Laura, being the greatest financial fraud scandal in American history.”

Already, state employees have accused Gov. Tim Walz, who joined Kamala Harris on the Democrats’ failed 2024 presidential ticket, of engaging in “systemic” retaliation against whistleblowers who warned of the fraud schemes as the Justice Department prosecutes multiple federal cases.

Already, dozens of cases have been brought and dozens of convictions obtained, even though it appears the scandal is just developing.

President Donald Trump has blamed Walz for letting Somali nationals take over the state and turn it into a “hub of fraudulent money laundering activity.”

Walz, meanwhile, has promised to “welcome more” Somalians to his state.

BREAKING: Dr. Oz says Minnesota Governor Tim Walz KNEW about the fraud but did nothing about it because the Somali community votes Democrat. The fraud got so bad that members of the Somali community spoke out.

Autism spending went from $3 million to $400 million.

DEFUND THEM. pic.twitter.com/e8wPcX3cNP

— Derrick Evans (@DerrickEvans4WV) December 10, 2025

Don’t let this story die, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz must be held criminally accountable.
“Over 480 DHS workers in Minnesota say Governor Walz covered up years of Somali linked fraud, totaling over a billion dollars.
Whistleblowers say Walz retaliated against them by threatening… pic.twitter.com/eDo9eFjq2H

— A Man Of Memes (@RickyDoggin) December 6, 2025

It was an investigation by City-Journal that concluded, “Billions in taxpayer dollars have been stolen during the administration of Governor Tim Walz alone. Democratic state officials, overseeing one of the most generous welfare regimes in the country, are asleep at the switch. And the media, duty-bound by progressive pieties, refuse to connect the dots.”

‘Walz’s political career’: Congressman willing to subpoena Minnesota guv over Somali fraud schemes

Stephen Miller: Somali scandal could be ‘greatest financial fraud’ in U.S. history