Questions Mount Over Ilhan Omar and “Feeding the Future”

Six new indictments and one guilty plea were announced yesterday as federal agents executed a search warrant on Ultimate Home Health Services, a Somali-owned home care agency. The new indictments focus on the autism program called Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention (EIDBI) and housing stabilization programs.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson explained that, in the case of housing stabilization programs, defendants claimed to provide housing assistance for people with mental illness or substance abuse problems—but submitted claims without providing any service. Thompson used the term fraud tourism, alleging that two men from Philadelphia learned there was “easy money” in Minnesota, flew into the state, set up shop, and began billing the government.

Regarding the autism programs, Thompson revealed that one defendant recruited parents and helped them obtain bogus documents for an autism diagnosis for their child. The parents would then receive a kickback from the money intended to treat the autistic child.

“These programs are entirely fraudulent,” Thompson said. “These aren’t companies providing some services while overbilling Medicare or Medicaid. These are essentially shell companies created to defraud the programs on a wholesale level.”

The housing stabilization program, for instance, was projected to cost $2.6 million annually but ballooned to $21 million in 2021 and exploded to $104 million in 2020. Thompson emphasized how some of the perpetrators migrated to Minnesota because the fraud was easier to commit there. Most of the defendants thus far are from Minnesota’s Somali community.

This raises political questions. Minnesota Democrats—including Rep. Ilhan Omar, Gov. Tim Waltz, and Attorney General Keith Ellison—are now under scrutiny for potential connections. For example, Ilhan Omar’s 2020 campaign victory party was held at a restaurant connected to one of the convicted individuals. Waltz, in his oversight role as governor, and Ellison, whose job is to enforce the law, are also facing questions regarding donations from related sources.

The Feeding the Future program is under fire as well. Critics point out that Ilhan Omar introduced the bill, which ultimately cost U.S. taxpayers around $250 million, and that several individuals from her district were allegedly involved in the fraudulent schemes, some of whom also contributed to her campaign.

“This raises serious questions,” commentators note. “How much did she know? Did she profit from it?” While federal investigations are ongoing, these allegations have already prompted calls for audits and even discussions about possible expulsion from Congress.

Experts also point to complications in tracing funds due to mechanisms like the Hala system, often used in Middle Eastern cultures, which can obscure money flows and complicate investigations into potential terrorist financing. Treasury officials have begun scrutinizing these channels to determine whether any of the fraudulently obtained funds could have supported nefarious causes abroad.

The bottom line: Minnesota’s Somali community, political figures, and a web of home care programs are now under intense investigation. Audits, subpoenas, and federal probes are continuing, but one thing is clear—the fallout from this scandal is far from over.