House Majority Whip Tom Emmer has demanded a federal probe into claims that millions in Minnesota taxpayer dollars have flowed to the Al-Qaida-affiliated terrorist group Al-Shabaab through widespread fraud schemes. In a letter to newly appointed U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen, Emmer pointed to years of unchecked theft under Governor Tim Walz’s watch, estimating a total of one billion dollars siphoned from state programs.
“Given the inaction and improper handling of fraud by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and his administration, we are urging you, as the new U.S. Attorney, to open an investigation into reports that Minnesota taxpayer dollars are ending up in the hands of the Al-Shabaab terrorist network in Somalia,” Emmer wrote.
The allegations center on Minnesota’s large Somali population, where federal sources say stolen funds from welfare and Medicaid programs have been funneled back to Somalia via hawala networks—informal money transfer systems known for evading oversight and sometimes benefiting extremists. One counterterrorism official described the situation bluntly: “The largest funder of Al-Shabaab is the Minnesota taxpayer.”
Emmer’s push follows a September 2025 wave of indictments against eight individuals, mostly from the Somali community, accused of defrauding the Housing Stabilization Services program out of hundreds of millions. Names in the charges include Moktar Hassan Aden, Mustafa Dayib Ali, and others who allegedly set up fake companies to bill for nonexistent services.
U.S. Attorney Andy Thompson noted the schemes’ brazen nature: “Most of these cases, unlike a lot of Medicare fraud and Medicaid fraud cases nationally, aren’t just overbilling. These are often just purely fictitious companies solely created to defraud the system, and that’s unique in the extent to which we have that here in Minnesota.”
Similar patterns have emerged in other programs, like Feeding Our Future, Child Care Assistance, and Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention, where Emmer says his office has sought answers from the Walz administration since 2020 without success. “As you know, officials estimate one billion dollars have been stolen under the Walz administration,” Emmer stated in his letter.
The revelations have sparked broader scrutiny, including from President Trump, who on November 22, 2025, announced plans to terminate Temporary Protected Status for Somalis in Minnesota, citing the state as “a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity” tied to “Somali gangs.”
Trump’s move comes amid reports of ongoing remittances fueling Al-Shabaab’s operations, with law enforcement tracing millions from Minnesota fraud directly to terrorist coffers in Somalia.
Emmer expressed alarm at the dual harm: “It is bad enough that these individuals are defrauding our state, taking services and funds away from children and the most vulnerable, but now there is a good reason to believe that Minnesota taxpayer dollars are going straight into terrorists’ hands.”
With Rosen now at the helm, Emmer’s call adds pressure for swift action to recover funds and hold perpetrators accountable, potentially exposing deeper ties between domestic fraud rings and overseas threats.
