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A recent investigation by Christopher Rufo and Ryan Thorpe exposes a disgraceful reality: Minnesota taxpayers have been victimized by sprawling welfare fraud that, according to multiple law-enforcement sources, funneled millions abroad where Somalia’s Al-Shabaab has benefited. This is not a marginal bookkeeping error; it is organized theft on a massive scale that burlap-bags the public purse and hands off the proceeds through informal remittance networks.
Federal prosecutors have already laid bare the scale of the theft in cases like the Feeding Our Future scandal, where defendants looted hundreds of millions in federal child-nutrition funds and judges have imposed heavy prison terms. These are real convictions, and they show that fraudsters exploited pandemic-era loosened rules and lax oversight to turn taxpayer generosity into personal profit.
The same investigators have now connected a separate autism-services fraud to the Feeding Our Future network, charging Asha Farhan Hassan with stealing roughly $14 million and using some of those ill-gotten gains to buy real estate overseas. When we see public benefits pumped into sham providers and then shipped out of the country, taxpayers have every right to demand answers and immediate reform.
Rufo and Thorpe’s reporting—corroborated by retired JTTF investigators—explains how the cash trail runs through hawala networks and informal money handlers who move American dollars into Somalia, where terror groups like Al-Shabaab extract a cut. Whether intentional funding or the byproduct of criminal middlemen, the effect is the same: American money is enabling foreign enemies and enriching crooks who exploit our compassion.
Watchful conservatives should also note the political culture that allowed this to metastasize: officials who prioritize election-season alliances over basic accountability created the fertile ground for these scams. City Journal’s reporting makes clear that influence and access insulated many perpetrators for too long, and too many local leaders looked away rather than protect taxpayers.
The solution is blunt and unapologetic: freeze suspicious payments, audit every newly created provider and charity that receives public funds, and crack down on hawala-style remittance conduits that evade scrutiny. Law enforcement must have the resources and legal cover to follow the money across borders and to pursue every participant, from the schemers here to the handlers abroad.
This is a wake-up call for every American who pays taxes and believes in national security. Voters should hold elected officials accountable in 2026 and demand a government that defends the public from fraud, not one that sweeps it under the rug for political convenience. The choice is simple: protect hardworking taxpayers and the homeland, or allow corrupt insiders to keep lining pockets while our enemies prosper.
