When did Minnesota authorities first open investigations into Somali-targeted fraud scams and what were the key milestones?
Executive summary
Minnesota authorities’ investigations into fraud schemes tied to members of the Somali community span several years and involve multiple large cases that federal prosecutors have said amounted to “hundreds of millions” to “billions” in alleged fraud; Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph (Joe) Thompson announced the first charges in the HSS investigation on Sept. 18, 2025, a milestone cited repeatedly by reporting [1]. Recent reporting and think‑tank pieces in November 2025 prompted renewed calls from Republican lawmakers and the president for further federal probes and for policy actions such as ending Temporary Protected Status for Somalis in Minnesota [2] [1] [3].
1. Early and ongoing probes: prosecutors and state investigators take years to build cases
Available reporting describes a pattern of investigations stretching back at least several years, with multiple federal and state actions that prosecutors and investigators say uncovered extensive fraud in programs such as Medicaid, pandemic relief and other social‑service schemes; the operating picture is one of incremental, complex probes rather than a single start date [4] [5] [6]. Kayseh Magan, a former Minnesota Attorney General fraud investigator, has documented that Somali‑linked defendants appear repeatedly in fraud prosecutions and explained how investigative work has progressed over time [6].
2. A clear milestone: Sept. 18, 2025 — “first charges in the HSS investigation” announced
Reporting cites Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson saying on Sept. 18, 2025, that he had announced the first charges in what is framed as the Housing Stabilization Services (HSS) investigation, and Thompson described the depth of the fraud work he had seen in his career while discussing that probe [1]. Several November 2025 stories identify that Sept. 18 announcement as a pivotal public milestone in the series of federal actions [1].
3. High‑profile indictments and billions‑figure estimates drove political attention
Press outlets and opinion pieces in November 2025 summarized multiple prosecutions and described aggregated sums ranging from “hundreds of millions” to “billions” in alleged fraud; those figures have been cited repeatedly by conservative outlets and congressional Republicans when urging new or expanded federal probes [7] [5] [8]. These tallies are central to why GOP lawmakers and the president escalated calls for investigations and policy responses [2] [1].
4. November 2025: think‑tank report, City Journal piece and GOP letters amplify the issue
A City Journal/Manhattan Institute‑adjacent report asserting that some stolen funds routed through informal hawala transfers reached Somalia and may have benefited al‑Shabaab reignited scrutiny in late November 2025; that reporting, coupled with a letter from Minnesota Republicans and national GOP members, triggered requests for DOJ action and public statements from elected officials [5] [2] [1]. Local outlets note the City Journal piece cites unnamed sources and a former counterterrorism investigator for claims about hawala flows [9].
5. What reporting agrees on — and what it does not prove
Multiple outlets and the City Journal piece agree that funds were sent by members of the Somali diaspora to Somalia via informal networks and that investigations have identified large fraud schemes in Minnesota [5] [9]. But major local coverage also stresses that the report “shows no definite link” between the hundreds of millions in fraud and Al‑Shabaab receiving those funds — the connection is presented as plausible by some former counterterrorism sources but not definitively proven in public reporting [9]. The Twin Cities reporting explicitly notes absence of a definitive public linkage to terrorist funding [9].
6. Political responses and policy milestones after renewed coverage
Following the November 2025 resurgence of coverage, President Trump announced he would end Temporary Protected Status for Somalis in Minnesota, citing alleged “fraudulent money laundering activity,” and Minnesota Republicans sent letters urging U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen to open or expand investigations — actions that are themselves milestones in the public‑policy fallout from the probes [1] [2] [3]. Local and national critics argue those moves may be politically motivated and point to legal and practical questions about singling out one state’s TPS beneficiaries [3].
7. Limits of current reporting and competing viewpoints
Sources include advocacy and opinion outlets that treat the fraud‑terror link as established [5] [10], while mainstream local reporting and at least one Twin Cities analysis emphasize that evidence tying specific fraud proceeds to Al‑Shabaab remains unproven in the public record [9] [4]. Former investigators and local journalists stress investigative complexity and systemic program vulnerabilities in Minnesota, not simple ethnic or ideological motivations [6] [4].
Conclusion — where things stand: investigators built multiple complex fraud cases over years, with a notable federal announcement of charges on Sept. 18, 2025, and a late‑November 2025 uptick in political pressure following think‑tank reporting; however, public reporting to date documents significant alleged fraud and hawala transfers while stopping short of a definitive, publicly documented trail proving Al‑Shabaab received or was financed directly by those specific stolen funds [1] [5] [9].