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MN fraud: FBI raids Somali-owned businesses
The FBI is conducting new raids on businesses in the Twin Cities on Tuesday amid an ongoing fraud investigations.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The FBI is conducting new raids on businesses in the Twin Cities on Tuesday amid an ongoing fraud investigations.
FBI raids underway on Tuesday
What we know:
The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security Investigators are executing 22 court-approved search warrants in the Twin Cities related to federal fraud investigations.
Fox News' Bill Melugin reports that the warrants have been executed mostly at Somali-owned businesses. Melugin reports that the misspelled "Quality Learning Center," which rose to infamy after YouTuber Nick Shirley's video exposing alleged fraud at day care centers in the Twin Cities, is one of the spots that was raided on Tuesday. The day care reportedly closed for business in early January, not long after the video came out.
What they're saying:
In a statement to FOX 9, a spokesperson with FBI Minneapolis confirmed the raids, stating: "Today, the FBI with federal, state and local law enforcement is involved in court-authorized law enforcement activity as part of an ongoing criminal investigation."
In a tweet, Homeland Security Investigations issued a similar statement, writing: "HSI, in cooperation with its federal, state and local law enforcement partners, engaged in court-authorized law enforcement operations in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. For reasons of operational security and for the safety of our agents, we will not comment further at this time."
Fraud in Minnesota
The backstory:
The FBI and HSI conducted similar raids in December on Medicaid providers as part of ongoing fraud investigations, as federal producers said fraud in Minnesota's fraud program could total more than $9 billion since 2018.
State officials have repeatedly pushed back on that claim, saying there's currently no evidence that fraud against the state's Medicaid program is that rampant. The fraud found in prosecuted cases so far only totals in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
This is a developing story and FOX 9 will provide updates as new details are available.