{"id":2526049,"date":"2025-12-29T10:03:01","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T15:03:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/somali-scammers-may-have-stolen-enough-minnesota-medicaid-funds-to-match-somalias-gdp\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T10:04:48","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T15:04:48","slug":"somali-scammers-may-have-stolen-enough-minnesota-medicaid-funds-to-match-somalias-gdp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/somali-scammers-may-have-stolen-enough-minnesota-medicaid-funds-to-match-somalias-gdp\/","title":{"rendered":"Somali Scammers May Have Stolen Enough Minnesota Medicaid Funds to Match Somalia&#8217;s GDP"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsomali-scammers-may-have-stolen-enough-minnesota-medicaid-funds-to-match-somalias-gdp%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2526049&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson and federal officials say investigations into minnesota&#8217;s medicaid and related programs have uncovered what they call &#8220;industrial-scale&#8221; billing fraud that could amount to roughly $9 billion &#8211; about half of $18 billion spent across 14 flagged programs (including autism and housing services). The FBI has sent additional resources after a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/youtuber-nick-shirley-exposes-alleged-somali-daycare-center-which-reportedly-reaped-4-million-from-taxpayers\/\" title=\"YouTuber Nick Shirley Exposes Alleged Somali Daycare Center Which Reportedly Reaped  Million From Taxpayers\">viral 42-minute video<\/a> by self-reliant journalist Nick Shirley showing numerous Somali-run daycare centers that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/somali-scammers-may-have-stole-enough-minnesota-medicaid-funds-to-match-somalias-gdp\/\" title=\"Somali Scammers May Have Stole Enough Minnesota ... Funds to Match Somalia&#039;s GDP\">reportedly received state funds<\/a> but often had no children present. Previous actions by ICE and a Treasury probe were prompted by earlier allegations that some stolen funds may have flowed to Al-Shabaab. Whistleblowers in Maine and Ohio have reported similar schemes, and state employees have accused Gov. Tim Walz of retaliating against whistleblowers; former President Trump announced an end to temporary Protected Status for Somalis in Minnesota in response to the allegations.Federal authorities continue to investigate.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>The amount of fraudulent billing in Minnesota&rsquo;s Medicaid programs could be as high as $9 billion, Assistant United States Attorney Joe Thompson said Dec. 18.<\/p>\n<p>FBI Director Kash Patel announced the agency was already sending additional resources in an X <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FBIDirectorKash\/status\/2005305530651189719\">post<\/a> Sunday, saying the deployment occurred before a 42-minute <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/nickshirleyy\/status\/2004642794862961123\">video<\/a> of independent journalist Nick Shirley visiting various day care centers went viral Friday. Thompson described the situation as involving &ldquo;industrial-scale fraud,&rdquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/minnesota\/news\/billions-paid-out-by-medicaid-in-minnesota-may-be-fraudulent-us-attorney\/\">according<\/a> to CBS News Minnesota.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;When I say significant amount, I&rsquo;m talking on the order of half or more, but we&rsquo;ll see,&rdquo; Thompson said. &ldquo;When I look at the claims data and the providers, I see more red flags than I see legitimate providers.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">BREAKING: First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson stated he believes &ldquo;half or more&rdquo; of the $18 billion spent on 14 programs likely represents fraud in Minnesota.<\/p>\n<p>During the conference, he highlighted 14 programs, including autism and housing services, that are flagged as&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/f7hkxpMlD0\">pic.twitter.com\/f7hkxpMlD0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; FOX 9 (@FOX9) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FOX9\/status\/2001733325980078247?\">December 18, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Somalia&rsquo;s GDP was $11.97 billion in 2024, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/nbs.gov.so\/somalia-gross-domestic-product-gdp-2024\/\">release<\/a> from the country&rsquo;s Bureau of National Statistics. Whistleblowers in Maine and Ohio have alleged similar schemes by Somali scammers have taken place in those states.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>Previously, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) surged into the Minneapolis area to target illegal immigrants from Somalia after reports of at least $1 billion in fraud. Allegations that some of the stolen funds went to the radical Islamic terrorist group Al-Shabaab prompted a <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/state-watch\/5629310-treasury-minnesota-al-shabaab-tax-probe\/\">probe<\/a> by the Treasury Department.<\/p>\n<p>In his 42-minute viral video <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/nickshirleyy\/status\/2004642794862961123\">posted<\/a> Friday to X, Shirley attempted to <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >visit multiple day care centers run<\/a> by Somalis that had reportedly received state funds, in many cases not finding children.<\/p>\n<p>&lsquo;What we see in Minnesota is not a handful of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/over-9-billion-looted-from-minnesota-medicaid-programs-in-massive-fraud-scheme-feds\/\" title=\"Over  Billion Looted from Minnesota ... Programs in Massive ... Scheme: Feds\">bad actors committing crimes<\/a>,&rdquo; Thompson said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s staggering, industrial-scale fraud.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In November, a number of state employees accused Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of engaging in &ldquo;systemic&rdquo; retaliation against whistleblowers who warned of the fraud schemes. Walz has since criticized President Donald Trump over the administration&rsquo;s response to the reported fraud.<\/p>\n<p>Trump announced he would end Temporary Protected Status for Somalis in Minnesota in response to the allegations of the fraud scheme, and also said the influx of refugees had &ldquo;destroyed our country.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div class=\"disclaimer\">\n<p><em>All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter&rsquo;s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Minn. Medicaid fraud up to $9B; FBI mobilized pre-video<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2526050,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2247606772.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[61924,5698,69634,69635],"class_list":["post-2526049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-medicaid-fraud","tag-minnesota","tag-somali-linked-fraud","tag-somalia-gdp"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2247606772.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2526049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2526049"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2526049\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2526053,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2526049\/revisions\/2526053"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2526050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2526049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2526049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2526049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}