Is Accountability Finally Coming to Minnesota? SBA Moves to Pause Funding Amid Fraud Investigations

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Minnesota has been the center of a massive fraud scandal for several weeks, as independent journalists like Nick Shirley and social media users have exposed billions of dollars of waste stemming from the state's healthcare, housing, and childcare programs as well as the COVID-era "Feeding Our Future" program that stole millions from Minnesota taxpayers.

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So far, 98 people (85 of them Somalis) have been charged by the DOJ, and Attorney General Pam Bondi says more indictments are coming in light of Shirley's groundbreaking report. The Department of Homeland Security was also on the ground in Minnesota to investigate the daycares highlighted in Shirley's report.

Voters, both in and outside of Minnesota, are demanding accountability and consequences for the fraud. It's not just state taxpayers who are losing money, either. Federal dollars have been flowing into Minnesota as well.

But, for now, some of that is stopping.

Kelly Loeffler, the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) announced on X that the SBA is pausing its annual funding to Minnesota amid ongoing fraud in the state.

This includes fraud in the SBA's PPP program, to the tune of $430 million.

"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," Loeffler wrote on X.

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In a lengthy post from Benny Johnson, Loeffler said she's "disgusted and sickened" by journalist Nick Shirley's exposé of Somali business fraud in the state.

Loeffler told Johnson she blamed Tim Walz and his "refusal to enforce laws governing small businesses" and his "allowance and facilitation of fraud."

As we reported on December 1, a group of state employee whistleblowers said Walz was not only aware of the ongoing fraud, but that he actively and vindictively retaliated against whistleblowers who reported the fraud. Those employees claim Walz and his administration threatened the families of whistleblowers as well.

"This is a cascade of systemic failures leading up to Tim Walz. Agency leaders appointed by Tim Walz willfully disregarded rules and laws to keep fraud reports quiet," they wrote in a post on X.

Johnson reports that the SBA was able to find almost half a billion dollars of fraud "within days" of launching an investigation into Minnesota.

"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," Loeffler told Johnson.

The pause was welcome news to social media users.

"Thank you! I think you will find that Minnesota is the tip of the iceberg," wrote one user.

"Shut it all down across the states until you figure out what's going on," wrote another. It seems the fraud runs so deep in Minnesota and elsewhere that the only solution seems to be shutting it all down and starting fresh.

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"Ok, now see, THIS is what I want to see more of," said a third. "Thank you Ms. Loeffler.  Please teach everyone else over there how it's done."

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