Gov Tim Walz claims Minnesota Somali fraud allegations are 'make believe'

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz tried to downplay the rampant fraud in Minnesota, dismissing allegations as “make-believe,” before claiming that “every state” experiences similar schemes, to ultimately saying there must be “accountability" for any fraud that took place.

In an interview with MS Now, Walz was asked whether, looking back, there was anything he could have done differently after there was heightened attention on fraud in the state to prevent federal investigators from “showing up and doing what they’re doing here."  

Walz responded, “No. No, they were coming anyway. We had, this was, it was all make-believe that we’d been at it. Every state had this. And look, I, I do think there, there has to be accountability in this.”

He continued by arguing that state government officials were not implicated and that similar cases occur elsewhere. “No one in state government was implicated. This happens all over. People did this,” Walz said. “We find, you know, we got it caught. We put them in jail or whatever.”

The interview followed claims of large-scale fraud in Minnesota’s public assistance systems. Reporting by Nick Shirley identified widespread alleged fraud among organizations receiving government funds. Shirley said he and his team were able to spot “over $110,000,000 in one day” by visiting addresses listed as child care centers, autism support providers, and other entities eligible for public funding, locations he alleged appeared to provide little or no actual services. In Shirley’s footage, some sites labeled as child care centers appeared empty during daytime hours on weekdays, which he cited as evidence that the listed services were not being delivered.

In the “Feeding Our Future” case, a major Minnesota fraud prosecution tied to federal child nutrition program funds, as of November, 78 defendants had been charged, many of them Somali Americans.

President Donald Trump described Minnesota as a “hub” for money laundering activity and announced steps affecting immigration policy related to Somalis in Minnesota, and Walz suspended his re-election campaign after Shirley’s video went viral.