By Ray Sanchez, Cheri Mossburg, CNN
(CNN) — The Trump administration, for the second time in recent weeks, is using allegations of fraud to justify increased federal law enforcement actions in Minnesota, the state with the country’s largest Somali population.
The latest surge in federal resources — from the FBI and Department of Homeland Security — followed the release of a widely circulated video in which 23-year-old YouTube content creator Nick Shirley alleges, with little evidence, to have uncovered widespread fraud at Somali-run child care centers.
The accusations are the most recent in a series of fraud scandals involving state social service programs that provided meals for needy children during the pandemic, Medicaid housing assistance and other safety nets which benefit needy families.
The alleged schemes prompted a fresh gush of fury and vitriol from the administration of President Donald Trump and state GOP leaders, who have demanded a crackdown on the waste of taxpayer dollars for social services they said were never provided.
The scandals go back nearly a decade and include allegations of fraud in the Somali community focused on Feeding Our Future, a nonprofit prosecutors said falsely claimed to provide meals to needy children during the Covid-19 pandemic. Federal charges were brought against dozens of people — most of them Somali — beginning in 2022.
Shirley’s video with the newest accusations involving Somali-run child care centers was retweeted by Vice President JD Vance and former Department of Government Efficiency head Elon Musk. The US Department of Health and Human Services then announced it was freezing child care payments to the state pending a federal investigation of the allegations.
Here’s a look at key figures in the highly politicized, long-running controversy involving alleged fraudulent, government-funded safety net programs in Minnesota.
Aimee Bock and Salim Said
A federal jury in March found Aimee Bock and Salim Said guilty for their roles in a $250 million fraud scheme connected to a government-funded food program for kids.
Bock was founder and executive director of Feeding Our Future, a nonprofit that received funding from the Federal Child Nutrition Program. Said was co-owner of Safari Restaurant, which provided meals for children at the restaurant and many other food sites associated with Feeding Our Future. Beyond feeding children, prosecutors said, the defendants used proceeds from the scheme to buy real estate, luxury vehicles and pay for international travel.
An early investigation by state education officials was slowed in part by a lawsuit filed by the organization and Bock — who is not Somali — on grounds the probe was discriminatory. She later voluntarily dropped the suit after federal agents raided her home and offices.
Bock was eventually convicted of seven federal charges, including bribery. She has not yet been sentenced, but a judge denied her request for a new trial. Said, who also awaits sentencing, was convicted of 20 federal charges, including bribery and money laundering.
Bock and Said each face possible sentences of more than 30 years in prison, CNN affiliate Read more