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One Journalist Digs Into Minnesota’s Massive COVID Aid Fraud as State Leaders Stay Silent

Scott McClallen
Scott McClallen  |  December 26, 2025 7:00 PM

One reporter is investigating Somali fraud in the state of Minnesota more than the local government that probably wasted $9 billion on fraud. 

Journalist Nick Shirley has been knocking on doors and asking questions to companies that took government money. Shirley is ensuring that these companies provide valid services instead of stealing from taxpayers. 

Shirley is investigating a wide-ranging network of fraud across 14 social programs statewide. 

Gov. Tim Walz has downplayed the scandal and somehow blamed the Trump administration. Attorney General Keith Ellison claimed that the state "shut down" scammers, but he was talking about a $4 million settlement - not billions of dollars in fraud. 

In total, Feeding Our Future opened more than 250 sites throughout Minnesota between March 2020 and January 2022 and falsely claimed to have served 125 million meals.

Court documents say that criminals have robbed Minnesota and federal taxpayers for years. The alleged criminals would submit a fake attendance roster listing the names of 2,040 children who attended one of the sponsor’s afterschool programs.

One site claimed to serve 2,000 to 3,000 meals per day, seven days a week, from a restaurant that previously had only a few dozen customers a day and $500-$600 in daily sales the previous year, according to the FBI. 

The state of Minnesota should minimize fraud. We need more reporters willing to knock on doors and ask hard questions.