Small Business Administration Administrator Kelly Loeffler announced the halt of all agency grants to Minnesota amid explosive revelations of widespread fraud among the Somali community.
After a viral documentary from independent journalist Nick Shirley exposed an alleged widespread network of fraud centered on Somali daycares, federal authorities have intensified investigations into the state. Loeffler said her agency would cease annual grants to the state as it investigates allegations of fraud from the COVID-19-era Paycheck Protection Program.
“SBA is pausing annual funding to Minnesota while we investigate $430 million in suspected PPP fraud across the state. This Admin will not continue to hand out blank checks to fraudsters – and we will not rest until we clean up the criminal networks that have been stealing from American taxpayers,” she said in a post on X.
Loeffler confirmed to conservative activist Benny Johnson that she had seen Shirley’s documentary, which left her “disgusted and sickened.” She said in response to the revelations in the documentary that she would immediately move to revoke all SBA loans to Minnesota.
Loeffler said the Trump administration would immediately investigate “state officials” who built an “industrial-scale crime ring to rip off hardworking Americans.”
“The scope of this international scam is still unknown, likely in the billions. Pending further review, SBA is freezing all grant funding to the state in order to stop the rampant waste of taxpayer dollars and uncover the full depth of fraud,” she added.
Investigations into alleged fraud had begun before Shirley’s video. Federal prosecutors have charged 98 people in connection with their investigation into Minnesota social programs, the vast majority of them Somali.
PATEL SURGING FBI RESOURCES TO ‘DISMANTLE’ MINNESOTA FRAUD SCHEMES
FBI Director Kash Patel said the agency had “surged personnel and investigative resources to Minnesota to dismantle large-scale fraud schemes exploiting federal programs.”
“Fraud that steals from taxpayers and robs vulnerable children will remain a top FBI priority in Minnesota and nationwide,” he said.
