Millions of dollars in taxpayer money have been siphoned off by scam artists in Minnesota and potentially funneled to the Somali-based terror group Al-Shabaab. According to federal counterterrorism sources, the vast majority of people involved in these scams are from the Somali community in Minnesota.
The scam, which has stolen billions of dollars from state Medicaid programs, autism services for children, and a federally funded program meant to feed children during the coronavirus pandemic, involves people applying for welfare benefits under false pretenses. The stolen funds are then smuggled out of the country through an informal network of money handlers known as "hawalas" before being sent back to Somalia.
Glenn Kerns, a retired detective who worked on a federal Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), explained that he discovered millions of dollars in cash were being sent from people in Minnesota to Al-Shabaab networks in Somalia through these hawalas. "We had sources going into the hawalas to send money," Kerns said. "I went down to [Minnesota] and pulled all of their records, and well sh–t, all these Somalis sending out money are on DHS benefits."
Kerns later determined that significant funds were being sent from people in the US to Al-Shabaab networks in Somalia, with some sources estimating that the terror group was receiving a cut of every dollar transferred. "Every scrap of economic activity, in the Twin Cities, in America, throughout Western Europe, anywhere Somalis are concentrated, every cent that is sent back to Somalia benefits Al-Shabaab in some way," said a former member of the Minneapolis JTTF.
The Minnesota US Attorney's Office has been investigating these scams for months and believes that "billions of dollars in taxpayer money" have been stolen as a result. The issue has sparked controversy, with some pointing out that the Somali community in Minnesota is disproportionately represented among those involved in the scams.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has promised to take action against those involved in the scams and to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future. However, critics argue that more needs to be done to address the root causes of these scams and to support the Somali community in Minnesota, who are disproportionately affected by them.
The scam, which has stolen billions of dollars from state Medicaid programs, autism services for children, and a federally funded program meant to feed children during the coronavirus pandemic, involves people applying for welfare benefits under false pretenses. The stolen funds are then smuggled out of the country through an informal network of money handlers known as "hawalas" before being sent back to Somalia.
Glenn Kerns, a retired detective who worked on a federal Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), explained that he discovered millions of dollars in cash were being sent from people in Minnesota to Al-Shabaab networks in Somalia through these hawalas. "We had sources going into the hawalas to send money," Kerns said. "I went down to [Minnesota] and pulled all of their records, and well sh–t, all these Somalis sending out money are on DHS benefits."
Kerns later determined that significant funds were being sent from people in the US to Al-Shabaab networks in Somalia, with some sources estimating that the terror group was receiving a cut of every dollar transferred. "Every scrap of economic activity, in the Twin Cities, in America, throughout Western Europe, anywhere Somalis are concentrated, every cent that is sent back to Somalia benefits Al-Shabaab in some way," said a former member of the Minneapolis JTTF.
The Minnesota US Attorney's Office has been investigating these scams for months and believes that "billions of dollars in taxpayer money" have been stolen as a result. The issue has sparked controversy, with some pointing out that the Somali community in Minnesota is disproportionately represented among those involved in the scams.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has promised to take action against those involved in the scams and to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future. However, critics argue that more needs to be done to address the root causes of these scams and to support the Somali community in Minnesota, who are disproportionately affected by them.
. I mean, how did we let this happen? We're talking billions of dollars being siphoned off by scammers with ties to a terrorist organization. It's like our government is giving the thumbs up to these hawalas and saying "go for it" 
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. The Somali community in Minnesota deserves better than to be singled out as the culprits here. We need to be addressing the real issues that led to these scams, like poverty and lack of economic opportunities.
. We need to be talking about how we can create more jobs, provide better social services, and support marginalized communities, not just punish them for the mistakes of a few bad apples 
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I'm worried about this scam going on in Minnesota 
. A diagram can help visualize how it's happening:
. I think we need more support for the Somali community in Minnesota who are disproportionately affected by these scams 
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The fact that millions of dollars are being funneled to a terrorist group is just insane... and I can see why this is sparking controversy, with some folks blaming the Somali community for perpetuating these scams. But honestly, shouldn't we be supporting these people who are struggling? We're always talking about how hard it is to come to America and start over, but what about giving them a hand up instead of a hand out? 
It's like our government is so quick to point fingers without thinking about the root causes of this problem... we need to do better than just "take action" against those involved. We should be working towards solutions that lift everyone up, not just punish those who are already struggling. 
. And it's not just the money, it's the fact that they're using hawalas to send cash back to Al-Shabaab, that's just disgusting 
. I don't get why people in Minnesota are so caught up in this, can't we all just support each other? 
I mean I get it, the Somali community in Minnesota is disproportionately represented among those involved, but doesn't that make it even more important to help them and support them? It's not like they're the ones starting this scam! 
The fact that someone is taking advantage of vulnerable people, including kids with autism, to fund a terrorist group is just heartbreaking 
. It's not about blaming an entire community, but we need to acknowledge that this issue has hit the Somali community in Minnesota harder 
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it's like, what's goin on over there? 
can't we just have a fair shot @ gettin our $$$ without it gettin funneled 2 terrorist groups 
! I mean, think about it, a whole network of money handlers (hawalas) being used to send billions of dollars back to Somalia? It sounds like a setup for some kinda big financial operation. And the fact that most of these scammers are from the Somali community in Minnesota just raises more questions... is this a case of systemic exploitation or something else? 
I'm low-key blown away by this whole thing 
. The Governor needs to take concrete steps to support the Somali community in Minnesota and address the root causes of these scams, rather than just going after the perpetrators 
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let's work together to help the Somali community in Minnesota not be victims of their own circumstances 
I thought we were already supposed to have some kinda system in place to prevent people from wasting taxpayer money 
but at the same time, it's not right that they're getting scammed too 
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