Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Wednesday that the Department of Justice is sending additional federal prosecutors to Minnesota as part of an expanding criminal investigation into widespread fraud tied to Somali-run “nonprofit” operations.
“The Department of Justice is dispatching a team of prosecutors to Minnesota to reinforce our U.S. Attorney’s Office and put the perpetrators of this widespread fraud behind bars,” Bondi said in a statement.
Bondi said the administration is prepared to escalate enforcement far beyond Minnesota.
The attorney general vowed “severe consequences in Minnesota” and said the department stands “ready to deploy to any other state where similar fraud schemes are robbing American taxpayers.”
A DOJ spokesperson also indicated the department is planning similar prosecutorial surges elsewhere.
Bondi’s comments, first reported by the New York Post, come as federal investigators continue to unravel a welfare fraud network first exposed under former Attorney General Merrick Garland.
In 2022, Garland announced the first wave of indictments connected to what he called a $250 million scheme involving the Minnesota nonprofit Feeding Our Future, which exploited taxpayer-funded child nutrition programs.
Garland described the case as the “largest pandemic relief fraud to date.”
However, the case had stalled, and investigations were blocked as Democrat leaders felt the scandal was too politically damaging.
The DOJ under Bondi has expanded those investigations, pursuing related cases involving alleged juror bribery and healthcare fraud.
Bondi has recently said the scope of the criminal activity is broader than originally believed and that the newly deployed prosecutors will accelerate forthcoming charges.
According to federal officials, 98 people have been charged in Minnesota fraud cases to date, with 64 convictions secured.
The majority of defendants have been of Somali descent.
The Trump administration, including the White House, DOJ, and Department of Homeland Security, has increasingly focused enforcement efforts on Minnesota’s roughly 100,000-member Somali community, viewing it as a high-risk zone for fraud and immigration violations.
Critics argue that only a small number have engaged in criminal conduct, and accuse President Donald Trump of pursuing what they describe as a xenophobic crackdown on law-abiding Somalis.
Health and Human Services (HHS) announced earlier this month that it has frozen billions of dollars in federal funding tied to childcare and social service programs in five Democrat-led states, including Minnesota, while investigators review how taxpayer funds have been used.
Public attention around the scandal intensified in December after YouTube journalist Nick Shirley published a viral video visiting Somali-run daycare centers that appeared closed despite receiving government support.
The footage drew millions of views on social media and fueled renewed scrutiny of Minnesota’s welfare programs.
Several daycare centers featured in the video have since disputed wrongdoing and insist they have never engaged in fraud.
Bondi said additional charges are expected and that Minnesota will be the first of multiple states to see stepped-up federal enforcement.
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