By Hudson Crozier
Welfare fraud by Minnesota’s Somali population funneled taxpayer money to the Islamic terrorist organization Al-Shabaab, City Journal reported, citing law enforcement sources.
“Untold millions” of state dollars flowed from Minnesota-based Somalis to the overseas group, including funds from Minnesota’s Department of Human Services (DHS), according to the outlet. Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s administration is now under scrutiny after federal probes revealed rampant fraud in a DHS program meant to help struggling residents find taxpayer-funded housing. (RELATED: Soft-On-Crime Somali-Born Democrat Gets Carjacked By Reality)
In a case investigated by the #FBINewYork Joint Terrorism Task Force, Cholo Abdi Abdullah was convicted on Monday in the Southern District of New York for conspiring to commit a 9/11-style attack At the direction of Al Shabaab. https://t.co/NL9ADjWQHs
— FBI New York (@NewYorkFBI) November 9, 2024
Al-Shabaab, an Al Qaeda affiliate, has killed Americans in its numerous attacks around the world, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. One of the group’s operatives was found guilty in November 2024 of plotting a 9/11 style plane attack in the U.S.
“This is a third-rail conversation, but the largest funder of Al-Shabaab is the Minnesota taxpayer,” an unnamed source, who previously contracted for law enforcement on counterterrorism work, told City Journal. The report did not specify a timeframe or specific programs that were the source of the funds.
Much of the money was sent to “hawalas,” or clan-based money traders, then laundered to Al-Shabaab, City Journal reported.
Six of the eight people federally charged with fraud for Walz’s Housing Stabilization Services program are of Somali descent, a Department of Justice spokesperson told City Journal. The state shut the program down on Oct. 31 “due to widespread fraud.”
The Minnesota DHS inspector general’s office and the FBI’s Minneapolis field office did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
