Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) said Sunday that there were long-standing “alarms” regarding the fraud schemes in her home state.
“There was always those alarms, and we will continue to understand where things might have gone wrong as these investigations continue, and as these fraudsters are prosecuted and sent to jail,” Omar told host Margaret Brennan on CBS New’s “Face the Nation.”
One of the fraud operations, which targeted social programs in Minnesota, was a $250 million scheme involving the nonprofit group Feeding Our Future. Five people were convicted in the case last year for misusing funds intended to feed children during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prosecutors alleged that the perpetrators of the scheme misappropriated and laundered the funds that were designated for meal reimbursements. The individuals used fraudulent meal count sheets, false invoices and fake attendance rosters to cover up their crimes.
Of the 87 people charged in connection with the scheme, 79 are of Somali descent — Minnesota has the largest Somali population of any state in the U.S.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday that his department is probing whether the funds were funneled to terrorist organization Al-Shabaab, which is based in Somalia.
But Omar, who was born in Somalia, said Sunday she is “pretty confident” that the funds were not sent to the terror group, yet called for a full investigation.
“If that is the case, if money from U.S. tax dollars is being sent to help with terrorism in Somalia, we want to know and we want those people prosecuted, and we want to make sure that that doesn’t ever happen again,” the Minnesota Democrat added.
Omar also noted that the scheme had “an impact on Somalis, because we are also taxpayers” in the North Star State.
“We also could have benefited from the program and the money that was stolen,” she said.
