Transcription
I'm national correspondent Kayla Gaskins in Washington. Luxury cars, private villas, and overseas wire transfers. Newly obtained documents are laying bare just how far a group of Minnesota fraudsters went to blow through hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money. Money that was supposed to feed hungry children during the pandemic. It was one of the largest COVID era fraud schemes in the country. We're not even at the end of the beginning of our pursuit of the stolen money and of the people who stole it.
In Minnesota, investigators say the defendants, many of Somali descent, turned a federal child nutrition program into their personal bank account and then went on a global spending spree. The court exhibits obtained by CBS News show first class trips around the world, including a villa with a private pool in the Maldives, lakefront homes in Minnesota, luxury cars, stacks of cash, and wire transfers moving the stolen taxpayer money to China and East Africa.
So, how much money are we talking about stolen from the American taxpayer?
I can say with great comfort, well in excess of a billion dollars.
Another alleged fraud scheme is raising red flags, this time in Maine. And it bears striking similarities to the case in Minnesota. In this instance, a Somali American, Dr. Abdullah Ali, the executive director of Gateway Community Services, is accused of defrauding the state's Medicaid program.
You shouldn't be able to rob taxpayers of millions of dollars and just get away with it.
Critics accusing Minnesota leadership of deliberately turning a blind eye to warning signs schemes were underway. They're concerned about, you know, maybe being called racist or bigoted. The corruption went on and on and on for years because there was this climate of fear of wanting to raise these issues and and disrupt the political networks that were benefiting those elected leaders in power.
Republicans on Capitol Hill launching an investigation into Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, accusing him of letting the fraud run rampant on his watch. Of course, we always wish we would have known more sooner. Were there state employees that should have known more? Yes. It was the lack of skepticism around these programs. So retrospectively, you always want to do more, but um complaining about it doesn't get there.
The Treasury Department conducting their own probe to determine how much, if any, of the stolen money from Minnesota that was wired overseas ended up in the pockets of al-Shabaab, a terrorist group operating out of Somalia. In Washington, I'm Kayla Gaskins.