A Case Study in Somali Fraud: Lewiston, Maine

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Minnesota has become synonymous with Somali welfare scams, but that is only because we are ground zero when it comes to Somali migration. 

But just like ground zero, while damage is maximized here, there is plenty of damage wherever the force of the bomb strikes. And as Somalis have spread around the country, so have the scams. Of course, it's not only Somalis who commit fraud in this country; they just happen to come from a culture where anybody who doesn't take advantage of the system is considered an idiot. 

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So let's look at a smaller, but significant incident that mirrors what has been happening here in Minnesota for years: the case of Lewiston, Maine. 

You may or may not have heard of Lewiston. Lewiston's unfortunate main claim to fame is that the city suffered a hideous mass shooting in 2023, taking 18 lives and wounding 13 others. Unsurprisingly, people in Maine and around the country came together to provide assistance to the victims, with Maine Governor Janet Mills directing donations to the Maine Community Foundation. 

The fundraising efforts were even more successful than the one for Renee Good's family, believe it or not, raising $6.6 million to aid the victims. While no amount of money can compensate a family for the loss of their loved ones, the outpouring of support no doubt was intended to help cushion the blow. 

So...what happened to the money? Well, much of it did go to victims, but much did not despite promises that it would. A lot, in fact, when to NGOs, some of which were outright scams. Among those scams was one led by a Somali man who was, I kid you not, subsequently elected to the City Council. Another Somali scammer who ran a separate NGO took the money and went off to Somalia to fight in the civil war. 

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A couple of days later, he had to resign because he violated his bail conditions, having lied about where he lived. 

Then there is the scammer who built an NGO empire, getting grants from the state after hiring a State Rep., and then managed to grab some of the Lewiston loot. He is now in Somalia fighting in the civil war, having raised his money here for the cause. 

Gateway Community Services, through their 501(c)3 arm, applied for and was awarded more than $65,000 in money raised following the Lewiston shooting. Like many of the organizations MCF handed donor money to, Gateway had barely any fundraising or activity in the preceding years. In 2019, for example, the organization took in just $136k in donations. In 2023, around the same time Gateway hired Rep. Deqa Dhalac (D-South Portland) on both the nonprofit and the for-profit side, Gateway’s Form 990 shows the organization raising more than $1.5 million — with roughly 86 percent of that coming from taxpayer money.

Why would an organization with seven-figure government grants, $5M in MaineCare revenue, and a board member in the State Legislature would need to put its hand out for Lewiston shooting donations? And, given what allegations of fraud leveled against Gateway by a former employee, what confidence can we have that those donations were used appropriately? Raising additional questions about MCF’s decision making is the fact that the organization had already given Gateway’s 501(c)3 arm $42,000 in 2023, according to the group’s audit for that year.

Gateway is run by Somali-American Abdullahi Ali, who has seen a meteoric rise among Maine Democrats as a mascot and gatekeeper for the refugee community. Ali’s taxpayer-funded migrant services business has made national headlines in recent weeks, in part because he received millions of taxpayer dollars before fleeing to Africa to lead a militia against Jubbaland President Ahmed Madobe.

In other words, money raised for the victims of Maine’s worst mass shooting went to a “nonprofit” run by a guy who, less than a year later, was rolling around Somali with a paramilitary outfit sporting AK-47s — munitions he claims to have paid for with money raised in America.

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Hire a politician, get government grants for phony services, send money abroad. It's scams all the way down. And this is exactly how it works: find a cause that everybody can get behind, hide behind the victims, and scoop up as much money as you can. Autism. Daycare. Feeding kids. Mass shooting victims. Who could object to helping these good causes?

Somalis appear to be very adept at making political connections and working their way up the political ladder. Who would have guessed that a Somali man, under investigation for fraud, would wind up on the city council? Even his address was fraudulent, but everybody is so concerned that they not be considered racist that this criminal actually got elected. 

The Maine Community Foundation, itself politically connected, was the conduit for all this fraud, and Governor Janey Mills put them in charge of running this fundraiser and distributing the money. Now they are hiding the records. 

In the wake of the Oct. 25, 2023, Lewiston shooting, Gov. Janet Mills promoted the Maine Community Foundation as the trustworthy conduit for giving to the victims of Maine’s deadliest mass murder.

After accepting $6.6 million in donations made for the benefit of the victims’ families and survivors, the MCF distributed just $4.7 million to those individuals.

The remaining $1.9 million went to NGOs, many of them politically connected, and many of them involved in the nebulous world of “migrant services.”

Most of those nonprofits have no connections to the victims’ families or the survivors. Few of them can point to anything done with the money for the benefit of the victims’ families or the survivors.

However, several of the nonprofits had directors who were on the MCF steering committee — the committee that allocated the donations.

In other words, roughly one third of the money raised in the names of Lewiston shooting victims was under the control of NGOs that saw no conflict or ethical concern with steering that money into their own bank accounts.

Some of those non-profits no longer exist, or maybe never existed, or have since been mired in scandals involving taxpayer funds, like Gateway Community Services.

Neither the MCF nor the NGOs who took the money will answer questions about what criteria the MCF’s so-called “steering committee” used for “broad area recovery,” and whether MCF performed any due diligence on the groups prior to giving them donor money meant to help victims of a mass shooting.

The NGOs ignored our inquiries for months. MCF responded with a link to the website where they posted corporate boiler plate in response to community outrage. The foundation did not address our specific questions about why members of the steering committee were permitted to steer money raised in the names of Lewiston shooting victims into their own organizations.

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As in Minnesota, everybody involved was in on the scams. All these community leaders looked citizens in the eyes and begged for money for the victims, then skimmed a third off the top for their political buddies. And because they are the people in charge, they have done so in full confidence that they will get away with it, and most of them will. 

After all, who really could object to donations given for victims of a mass shooting going to the Somali Bantu Community Association?

Somali Bantu Community Association

Muhidin Libah, the co-founder of the Somali Bantu Community Association (SBCA), was also tapped by MCF to sit on the Lewiston shooting fund steering committee and was allowed to steer more than $65,000 to his own organization.

According to the organization’s 2023 Form 990, SBCA is a family affair. The tax document shows Libah paid a family member, Fadumo Libah, $21,551 for “various business transactions,” and doled out another $38,559 to family member Hawa Dakane for work as a “Woman’s Community Advocate.” In addition to money raised for victims of the Lewiston mass shooting, the SBCA has also received numerous contracts for services under the administration of Gov. Janet Mills (D), according to state contract records. Most recently, the organization was awarded more than $31k to support Liberation Farms, a taxpayer-funded halal farm, and to recruit Maine residents to apply for EBT cards.

One third of the money went to organizations like this. And if history is any guide, none of the people who enabled the fraud will face any consequences. A few of the small fry will, but the big dogs in politics will do just fine. 

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Lewiston is filled with phony businesses scamming off the government, scam NGOs, and is a microcosm of what you see in Minnesota. The Democrats are standing behind their Somali brothers and sisters because...of course they are. How much of that money gets circulated back into campaign donations?

Democrats in Maine have rallied around the Somali community, complaining that they are being singled out due to their race. Graham Platner, who is a candidate for US Senate running against Janet Mills, the governor who kicked this all off in the first place, actually campaigned in Lewiston with Democrat Socialists Shenna Bellows and Troy Jackson, holding a Somali rally with Iman Osman & Deqa Dhulac - both now tied two nonprofits that defrauded Mainers.

You see how brazen this is. Everybody is confident they can hide behind accusations of "racism," and so far, it has worked out pretty well for them. Billions of dollars have flowed from the taxpayers to fraudsters, in front of everybody, and so far only a few random people have wound up in jail. 

Government officials have known about all this for years. Many have participated in the fraud in one way or another. 

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Frauds like this are happening all over the country, and while it is convenient to focus on the Somalis involved, you have to remember that they were recruited and coached on how to do this by people who understand how the system works. 

They didn't figure this all out on their own. 

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