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EXCLUSIVE: Fox News Digital spoke to Minnesota state Rep. Kristin Robbins shortly after she unveiled millions in alleged fraud in the state’s assisted living program and identified an individual already indicted for fraud who is still receiving payments from the state, adding to the already exploding fraud scandal in the state.
The Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy, chaired by Robbins, held a hearing that focused on a new sector of fraud, the state’s assisted living programs, that comes amid a massive unfolding fraud scandal in the state that has affected a variety of other sectors and resulted in calls for the state’s chief executive, Gov. Tim Walz, to resign.
The committee alleges that a number of individuals tied to other fraud schemes are receiving millions in taxpayer dollars for an assisted living program and that one of those individuals, referred to as “FOF Defendant,” is already facing indictment charges as part of the Feeding the Future fraud scheme yet still receiving payments from Minnesota’s Department of Human Services.
In a presentation, Robbins outlined properties owned by FOF Defendant connected to the assistant living facility fraud and what she called an “unbelievable” network of fraud that slipped past any oversight procedures.
ONE CHART LAYS BARE THE SPRAWLING FRAUD NETWORK MINNESOTA OFFICIALS MISSED
“I bring this to your attention because despite months of hearings, we continue to miss the most basic internal controls and the most basic checks and balances when we are enrolling providers,” Robbins said during the hearing. “This is just one network. Our researchers has multiple networks that we could have discussed today.”
Robbins, who is a Republican candidate for governor to replace Walz next year, says she will be turning her findings over to the U.S. Attorney today for further investigation.
INSIDE MINNESOTA’S $1B FRAUD: FAKE OFFICES, PHONY FIRMS AND A SCANDAL HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT
The sun shines on the Minnesota State Capitol. (Steve Karnowski/Associated Press)
“I just find it unconscionable that they, the department didn’t run a basic check of all these Feeding Our Future people who’ve been indicted or convicted, and make sure that they weren’t getting state money in other programs,” Robbins told Fox News Digital.
While investigations into fraud have focus mainly on nonprofits who abused COVID-19 and food aid programs, the committee’s assertion that adult daycare services and assisted living facilities also engaged in fraud suggests that the scandal is more wideranging than previously reported.
“I expect there will be more fraud uncovered in those sectors. And I’m assuming it’s happening in other states. as we’ve seen, there is a similar fraud going on in Maine, and I’m sure many other states. And so I think all agencies around the country need to be attuned to this and need to look at the programs,” Robbins said.
She add, “And it’s not high finance. It’s basic internal controls that they should be doing.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Walz’s office for comment.
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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz sits for an interview with Star Tribune journalists in his office at the State Capitol in St. Paul on Dec. 12, 2024. (Alex Kormann/The Minnesota Star Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
The fraud scandal in Minnesota, that dates back to at least 2020 but has exploded into the national spotlight in recent weeks, has prompted several swift actions from the Trump administration and Congress.
The Small Business Administration is investigating a network of Somali groups in Minnesota that it says is tied to the scandal, and a House Oversight Committee has opened an investigation into Walz’s role.
The Department of Health and Human Services has launched a review into how Minnesota used billions of dollars in federal social service funding, requesting detailed records from Walz’s administration and other state entities after reports raised questions about whether portions of the money were misused.
On Tuesday, Fox News Digital first reported that Education Secretary Linda McMahon called on Walz to resign over the scandal.
“You have been Minnesota’s Governor since 2019,” McMahon wrote. “During that time, your careless lack of oversight and abuse of the welfare system has attracted fraudsters from around the world, especially from Somalia, to establish a beachhead of criminality in our country. As President Trump put it, you have turned Minnesota into a ‘fraudulent hub of money laundering activity.’”
