The events in Minnesota just seem to get worse by the day and continue to reflect poor governance standards and practices at the state level. The problems did not occur overnight and were not the result of a few random individuals. These events were flagged as suspicious as early as 2020; however, regulatory hesitation and delayed enforcement allowed the corruption to continue and grow to numbers still being calculated, likely in the billions of dollars. The primary reasons for the delays include fear of targeting minority communities and legal challenges involving discrimination.
Yet recent findings and other information reveal system weaknesses, oversight failures, and an opportunistic network of criminals and other organized fraud networks drove the fraud. Some random, unsophisticated individuals did not commit this fraud. The enormity of the fraud required a great deal of legal and accounting skills that the average person does not have. To date, prosecutors have found the following:
- Dozens of interconnected businesses and non-profits
- Shared vendors, fake suppliers, and coordinated claims and false invoices
- Money laundering into luxury real estate, luxury cars, and other personal spending
- Millions of dollars are being wired overseas to family members.
Does any of these activities sound like something that could be contrived over the dinner table?
All of this is evidenced by another member of a family within Minnesota’s Somali community who is expected to plead guilty in the massive fraud scandal that has drawn national attention and prompted criticism of Attorney General Keith Ellison over a meeting he held with members of the family in question.
As reported on a national broadcast, Gandi Mohamed, 45, is expected to either plead guilty at a change-of-plea hearing or enter a plea of no contest, which would allow him to accept a conviction and be sentenced without admitting guilt, according to court records. Mohamed is the sixth member of his family to plead guilty in the scheme prosecutors say fraudulently claimed to be serving meals while pocketing $14 million from the federal child nutrition program.
Several members of this family were present at the now infamous 2021 meeting between Ellison and members of the Somali community, where would-be fraudsters could be heard asking the state’s attorney general to help them secure more funding, before the conversation turned to campaign donations.
“The only way that we can protect what we have is by inserting ourselves into the political arena. Putting our votes where they need to be. But most importantly, putting our dollars in the right place. And supporting candidates that will fight to protect our interests,” one of the Somali community members says in the recording.
“That’s right,” Ellison responds.
A republican named Dalia al-Aqidi, who is running for Congress in Minneapolis against Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn, stated that Attorney General Keith Ellison is not only looking the other way but doing so after taking donations from these very fraudsters,” This is a betrayal of every Minnesotan who trusted him with that office.”
In my view, this fraud was allowed to continue because beneficiaries could influence elections and elected officials. This was a large-scale fraud scheme involving individuals from a specific community. Bottom line – this happened because:
- of weak controls involving reimbursements,
- a massive pandemic spending surge,
- delayed or non-existent enforcement,
- an organized exploitation of loopholes, and
- emotional manipulation.
All these events allowed this fraud to scale into one of the largest public corruption cases in recent U.S history. These events did not occur by happenstance; there was extensive preplanning and organization behind their execution. Preventing fraud isn’t complicated; it just takes the political will to stop this type of abuse. It’s clear that this scheme was being used to buy votes and had nothing to do with discrimination, and that has to stop.”
Prepared by Terry L. Stroud – April 2026
