FBI investigating Minnesota fraud scheme, director says
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Kash Patel speaks after being sworn in as FBI director by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi in the Indian Treaty Room in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB) on the White House campus in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 21, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Mil
WASHINGTON, Dec 28 (Reuters) - The FBI has "surged" investigative resources and personnel to Minnesota, bureau Director Kash Patel said on Sunday, in the latest instance of the Trump administration’s fraud investigations that have largely targeted the state's Somali immigrants.
Federal officials in recent weeks have portrayed Minnesota's Somali community as a hotspot for fraud involving millions of federal dollars intended for social services. Immigrant-rights advocates have accused the administration of using the fraud investigations as an excuse to target Somali immigrants more broadly.
The FBI declined to provide further details about Patel's comment. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Patel on Sunday referenced "recent social media reports in Minnesota," without being more specific. But his X post came two days after an online video documented allegedly inactive daycare facilities that had received public funds as part of a wider network of allegedly fraudulent activities.
U.S. Representative Tom Emmer, a Minnesota Republican, shared the video in a Friday social media post asking for a response from Walz. Vice President JD Vance shared the report with his followers on X the next day.
Most people charged in major fraud cases announced recently in Minnesota are of Somali descent, CBS News reported, citing the U.S. Attorney's Office for Minnesota. Federal prosecutors and officials have clashed with state officials over how the fraud investigations have been handled in recent months, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune.
U.S. President Donald Trump, a Republican, has cited those investigations in criticism of the Somali diaspora and of Walz, who was the Democratic nominee for vice president in the 2024 election.
(Reporting by Jasper Ward in Washington and AJ Vicens in Detroit; Editing by Sergio Non and Matthew Lewis)
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