MINNEAPOLIS (NewsNation) — Hundreds of Minnesota Department of Human Services employees are allegedly accusing Gov. Tim Walz on social media of ignoring early warnings about massive fraud and retaliating against whistleblowers in a scandal that allegedly funneled over $1 billion in taxpayer funds to fraudulent operations.
Under an X account claiming to represent 480 DHS workers, they say they alerted Walz to fraudulent billing schemes but faced monitoring, threats and repression rather than support.
“Tim Walz is 100% responsible for massive fraud in Minnesota,” the account said. “We let Tim Walz know of fraud early on, hoping for a partnership in stopping fraud, but no, we got the opposite response.”
The account was temporarily suspended for several hours before being restored under a modified name, “Minnesota Staff Fraud Reporting Commentary.”
Walz’s office declined to formally comment on the posts or confirm whether they were associated with current state employees.
The allegations center on the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, which recruited individuals to open more than 200 federal child nutrition program sites throughout Minnesota, claiming to serve meals to thousands of children daily.
Instead, prosecutors say, the organization created fake attendance rosters and invoices that were reimbursed by the federal government.
Federal authorities have indicted 86 people in connection with the scheme. Of those charged, 79 are of Somali descent, according to federal sources who spoke with NewsNation.
When asked about the fraud on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Walz defended his administration’s response and pushed back against characterizations of the scandal.
“Certainly, I take responsibility for putting people in jail,” Walz said. “Minnesota is a generous state. Minnesota is a prosperous state, a well-run state, we’re AAA bond-rated, but that attracts criminals. Those people are going to jail.”
He added that demonizing an entire community based on the actions of some individuals was “lazy.”
Are Minnesota taxpayers funding a Somali terror group?
Current and former federal sources told NewsNation that some of the fraudulently obtained funds made their way to Somalia, with portions going to al-Shabaab, an al-Qaida-linked terror group. Sources said they could not provide a forensic accounting of the money once it reached Somalia but confirmed funds were diverted to the organization.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent said Monday the agency is investigating whether Minnesota taxes were diverted to al-Shabaab.
“At my direction, @USTreasury is investigating allegations that under the feckless mismanagement of the Biden Administration and Governor Tim Walz, hardworking Minnesotans’ tax dollars may have been diverted to the terrorist organization Al-Shabaab. Thanks to the leadership of @POTUS @realDonaldTrump, we are acting fast to ensure Americans’ taxes are not funding acts of global terror. We will share our findings as our investigation continues,” Bessent wrote on X.
David Gaither, a former Minnesota lawmaker and executive director of the International Education Center, witnessed the fraud firsthand. He pointed to the Safari restaurant in downtown Minneapolis, whose owner is currently in federal custody, as an example of the scheme’s scope.
“This restaurant, which seats about 35, supposedly served 18,000-plus meals a day,” Gaither said.
The DHS employees’ X account, which has operated since October 2022, stated that posting about the fraud has been stressful because they anticipate retaliation.
“It’s actually quite stressful to tweet because we anticipate and expect retaliation. It’s the Tim Walz way,” the account posted after being restored.
Minnesota is home to approximately 80,000 Somali Americans, one of the largest Somali diaspora communities in the United States.