Seventy people in Minnesota are accused in a coronavirus pandemic fraud scheme involving federal money and food for children, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel has revealed.
He said the indictments come after a massive “Feeding Our Future” scheme that exploited a federal program to reimburse states who were paying to make sure children had food to eat during the pandemic, Fox News reported on Friday.
In his statement, Patel said, “Stealing over $250 million from hungry kids during a pandemic to fund mansions and luxury cars is as shameless as it gets. 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.”
The director also shared his comments on X:
Social media users were quick to respond to Patel. One person wrote, “Finally holding fraudsters accountable! About time justice steps in while the left drowns in scandals.”
“Minnesotans thank you, @FBIDirectorKash,” another use commented, while someone else said, “Right in Tim Walz backyard.”
The Fox article detailed that “Conspirators falsely claimed to have served millions of meals during the pandemic, but instead used the money for personal gain. Of the individuals indicted, 38 have pleaded guilty, FBI officials told Fox News Digital. More than a dozen of the individuals are awaiting criminal trial, with the next trial beginning in August.”
In October, Breitbart News reported the largest coronavirus relief-fund fraud in America happened in the Somali community in Minneapolis under Gov. Tim Walz’s (D-MN) tenure, noting that 47 Somali immigrants were charged with stealing $250 million in federal COVID funding.
The report shared more details about the “Feeding Our Future” program:
Under Walz’s leadership, a fake Somali charity called “Feeding Our Future” was found to have defrauded the government of millions of dollars, money that was set aside to help children and families during the COVID crisis, but money that was stolen to pay for high-priced real estate, cars, clothes, travel expenses, and luxuries for the members of the Somali community that managed the funds.
Gov. Walz claimed that they caught the fraud “early” and patted himself on the back for working to clean up the mess and prosecute the fraudsters. But CNN noted that Walz’s own Dept. of Education left the door wide open for this type of fraud.
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The Feeding Our Future fraud is also not the only fraud of COVID funding that occurred in Minnesota under Walz. In total some $550 million has been stolen by fraudsters during his tenure.
In addition, more than 80 autism clinics in Minnesota are being investigated for millions of dollars in Medicaid fraud, Breitbart News reported on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) has pushed for Congress to appoint a special inspector general to probe more of the billions in COVID aid fraud, a Breitbart News article from March said.
The outlet noted that “The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) last week found that the Biden-era Small Business Administration (SBA) granted 5,593 loans worth $312 million to borrowers where the only owner was listed as 11 years old or younger.”
