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Tim Walz’s $250M state program to feed hungry kids fraudulently spent on luxury goods, overseas real estate
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is facing renewed scrutiny for a $250 million COVID-19 fraud scandal in Minnesota that critics say falls on his shoulders as governor, particularly after he was tapped as a running mate for Kamala Harris on the 2024 Democratic ticket.
Between 2022 and 2024, 70 people have been charged in connection with the fraud scheme that resulted in a quarter-billion-dollar loss from the Minnesota Department of Education's (MDE) Feeding Our Future program — a federally funded meal assistance plan meant to help give free meals to eligible children and adults.
"At least a quarter billion dollars was stolen by fraudsters," Billy Glahn, adjunct policy fellow with Minnesota-based Center of the American Experiment, told Fox News Digital of the scandal.
The question, of course, came up: How did the state Department of Education let out $250 million out the door to people who were later convicted of defrauding the program? The legislative auditor took this on as one of her projects and did this report looking at how the department oversaw a single one of these nonprofits involved."
Glahn is referencing a report from the Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA), which frequently releases state government oversight reports.
The report about fraud scheme in question, titled "Minnesota Department of Education: Oversight of Feeding Our Future," was released in June. In it, legislative auditor Judy Randall concludes that although MDE officials told OLA they quickly identified and stopped the fraud, OLA believes they could have done more to prevent $250 million in stolen funds.
"MDE officials told us that the department began to have concerns about Feeding Our Future only after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we think MDE failed to act on warning signs known to the department prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and prior to the start of the alleged fraud," the report states.
Critics say this failure goes back to Walz's leadership as governor. "The buck has to stop somewhere," as Glahn put it.
"He is the chief executive of the state. All of the people at the Department of Education and the other departments where fraud has taken place were appointed by him," Glahn noted. "So he appoints the commissioner, the deputy commissioner, assistant commissioners. They were all appointed by him. They all report to him. And these are the folks whom the legislative auditor has documented failed to do their job. So where does the buck stop?"
I have read reports of this before and glad to see it is publicized more widely. We have a right to know about his mistakes and misses while governor.
It also highlights dissonance between Walz’ message and the reality-big government does not solve problems— it leads to bloated bureaucracies that are prone to mismanagement and, in this case, outright cheating. Big government is not the answer Tim!
The cheating was caught and is being prosecuted. Or do you only like the cheaters who get away with it? Like Jared and Ivanka and Donald?
I don’t like any cheating, it should always be prosecuted. It should also be further investigated as to root causes.
Did the employees think they could get away with it because “thats how things are done here in Minnesota” or something else?
Edited to add: is there a culture of cheating in Minnesota?
Yah, sure, you betcha. Hotbed of intrigue.
I've never heard of entities (companies or individuals) who when they steal large amounts of money from public programs DON'T spend it on luxury goods.
Using my anonymity to mention I was on a fed grand jury that issued indictments in several (none of these related to each other) cases against entities that stole millions from Medicare. We saw pics of the perps' homes and assets purchased to launder the money. And their cars.
Being from the state originally, I was aware of the case against Feeding our Future for a long time while it unfolded. Although the craziest part was the person who brought a sack of money to, IIRC, the ONLY black juror on the jury (who promptly turned them in). I think that was actually during deliberations although I might be wrong about that detail.
And it's not like there aren't people on the right who pull this s***.
Remember the guy from Idaho that tried to snag a multimillion dollar contract to fix the electrical grid in Idaho with no existing company before that or means to fulfill a contract? Major GOP connections. Remember the company that used connections with the administration (company favored by Trump) to be part of building the wall and got 2 billion in federal con tracts? Despite a history of EPA violations, tax fraud by executives, etc?