LOS ANGELES, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- A sweeping network of fraud schemes that allegedly stole over 1 billion U.S. dollars from Minnesota's social welfare programs has ignited a political storm in the United States.

Federal investigators say the cases span pandemic meal aid, housing assistance and autism services, forming one of the largest clusters of public-fund fraud they have encountered. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump uses the scandal to target the state's immigrant community, turning it into a new flashpoint in the country's immigration debate.

WIDENING FRAUD SCHEMES

Federal authorities have charged 78 people in what they describe as the largest pandemic relief fraud case in the country, centered on a nonprofit organization called Feeding Our Future.

Between 2020 and 2022, the scheme siphoned approximately 250 million U.S. dollars from the Federal Child Nutrition Program. Sites that claimed to serve thousands of children each day were often empty lots, according to federal charging documents.

Aimee Bock, 44, the White founder and executive director of Feeding Our Future, was convicted in March on all seven counts against her, including wire fraud and federal programs bribery.

But the scandal extends far beyond a single nonprofit.

Federal prosecutors charged eight people in September for stealing from the Housing Stabilization Services Program, a Medicaid initiative meant to help homeless and disabled residents. The program's costs surged from a projected 2.6 million dollars annually to 104 million dollars in 2024, and the state terminated the program in October 2025, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune.

A third scheme targeted autism services. Prosecutors charged Asha Farhan Hassan, 28, with defrauding the autism program of approximately 14 million dollars by paying parents kickbacks of up to 1,500 dollars monthly to enroll their children, including those without autism diagnoses.

"The depth of the fraud in Minnesota takes my breath away," Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson said at a press conference on Sept. 18, announcing Housing Stabilization Services fraud charges.

"From Feeding Our Future to Housing Stabilization Services and now Autism Services, these massive fraud schemes form a web that has stolen billions of dollars in taxpayer money. Each case we bring exposes another strand of this network," Thompson noted in a U.S. Department of Justice statement on Sept. 24.

A CBS News investigation published Friday revealed that state officials detected early warning signs of fraud in July 2019, months before the pandemic began. Former Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) staff said Bock pressured them to approve payments without scrutiny.

The case highlighted severe gaps in government oversight. A June 2024 report by Minnesota's nonpartisan Office of the Legislative Auditor found that the MDE's "inadequate oversight" of Feeding Our Future "created opportunities for fraud."

When state officials raised concerns in 2020, Feeding Our Future countered with threats of lawsuits alleging racial discrimination. According to the auditor's report, "the threat of legal consequences and negative media attention affected MDE's decisions about the regulatory actions it did" and did not take against the group.

The Feeding Our Future case reflected a broader pattern of large-scale fraud during the pandemic, as federal agencies rushed to distribute emergency aid. A CBS report said Thursday that a former federal watchdog estimated COVID-19 fraud could reach 1 trillion dollars.

ETHNIC TENSIONS RISE

Most defendants in the Minnesota cases are of Somali descent, even as the schemes' mastermind, Bock, is White. The ethnic dimension has transformed the scandal into a volatile national political issue.

Trump has seized on the fraud to attack Minnesota's Somali community, home to over 107,000 people identified as Somali, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Most arrived as refugees fleeing civil war in the 1990s and are U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

On Tuesday, Trump called Somali immigrants "garbage" during a cabinet meeting, according to NBC News. "I don't want them in our country. Their country is no good for a reason," Trump said.

The president also announced plans to terminate Temporary Protected Status for Somali migrants in Minnesota, though the designation covers only about 705 people nationwide, according to the Congressional Research Service.

The U.S. House Oversight Committee, led by Republican James Comer, on Wednesday launched an investigation and demanded documents from Democratic Governor of Minnesota Tim Walz about his administration's response.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said his department would investigate allegations that stolen funds reached al-Shabaab, a U.S.-designated terrorist group based in Somalia. No terrorism-related charges have been filed.

Former U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Andy Luger told the Minnesota Star Tribune that the defendants "were looking to get rich, not fund overseas terrorism."

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, launched "Operation Metro Surge" in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, deploying approximately 100 federal agents. As of early December, the operation had resulted in 12 arrests, said local media.

Within Minnesota's Somali community, the scandal has caused painful divisions. At Karmel Mall, a cultural hub in south Minneapolis, business slowed this week as fear spread through the community, PBS NewsHour reported Friday.

Ahmed Samatar, a Somali-American professor at Macalester College, told PBS NewsHour, "I was ashamed." "Somali Minnesotans have to face this, and they really have to clean up their act, because the state deserves better than that."

However, he emphasized the need for balance, saying, "The challenge is to keep that in its proper place, because it's a real story, and then, next to it, expound on what the Somalis have achieved in the state of Minnesota."

Governor Walz has defended his administration, citing new fraud-prevention measures including a task force, improved information-sharing across agencies and AI tools to identify suspicious billing. On Thursday, Walz denounced Trump's remarks as "vile, racist lies and slander towards our fellow Minnesotans," reported Minnesota Public Radio.

The scandals have now produced 61 convictions out of 87 people charged. Prosecutors have recovered approximately 60 million dollars, though much of the money was spent or transferred overseas and cannot be retrieved. Enditem