The revelation that COVID-19 era federal relief programs in Minnesota were fleeced by Somali migrants who likely passed the loot to the Al-Shabaab* (affiliated with al-Qaeda*) terror group caused a media Storm in November 2025.
Reports emerging in November 2025 revealed that Somali Migrants in Minnesota swindled hundreds of millions from federal agencies during the pandemic under the infamous Feeding Our Future Program, and the Housing Stabilization Services (HSS) billed through Medicaid. The full extent to which the federal and state governments lost pandemic relief money to fraud schemes may never be ascertained, as new perpetrators continue being found and charged 5 years later. The US Department of Justice (DoJ) managed to charge the 78th person on November 24, 2025, in connection with the Feeding Our Future nonprofit, which participated in defrauding the Federal Child Nutrition Program by running sites that fed a handful of children but inflated the count to thousands and charged the federal program $250 million during the pandemic. Similarly, the US Attorney General in Minnesota announced pressing charges against 8 Somali migrants who dishonestly reported to have assisted numerous clients to enroll in the state Housing Stabilization Services (HSS) and billed Medicaid 8.4 million, in what is now described as Medicaid billing fraud.
These, among other schemes, show how hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ money ended up in the hands of Somali immigrants for unexplained reasons. The official story has been that the amount stolen was laundered and used to buy luxury vehicles, properties, and some may have ended up in the hands of Al-Shabaab*.
History of Funding Terrorists
The schemes described above raise suspicion not only for the ease with which the money was disbursed but also for the coincidence (or lack thereof) that most of the recipients were Somali migrants, some of whom could channel the loot to the Al-Shabaab* terror group. These suspicions can be explained by past observations that if anyone were to point to any location on a map with terror groups, there is certainly US money that flows to such a region under false humanitarian justifications.
Among terrorist groups for which undisputed evidence of receiving funding from the US exists are the Haqqani Network*, a faction within the Afghan Taliban, which, despite being designated by the UN and US as a terrorist group of global concern, benefited from regular shipments of money from Washington. Therefore, if Washington was brazen enough to airlift tens of millions to the Haqqani network even while pretending to be fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, it is defensible to think that some federal COVID-era relief programs disbursed through Minnesota may have had concealed channels to pass resources to terror groups, including the Somalia-based one.
Noteworthy, article appearing in the City Journal on November 19, 2025, described Minnesota Taxpayer as the greatest funder of Al-Shabaab*, and may have been meant to screen off the federal agencies behind this program, which were used by Washington to fund foreign groups.
Are the Accused Just Criminals or Financiers of Terrorism?
While ABC News revealed that US investigators believed that the amount fleeced from welfare programs in Minnesota was transferred through informal systems to Somalia, and a section of it ended up with the Al-Shabaab terrorist group, the security establishment in Washington has remained unperturbed, suggesting it was aware of what was happening. Surprisingly, investigators quoted by ABC stated that the fraud should have been taken seriously due to its implications for US National Security.
Also, the City Journal, on November 19, 2025, stated that the money defrauded from Minnesota ended up in the hands of the Somalia-based terror group, which made Minnesota taxpayers funders of Terrorism. However, it is interesting (or telling) why federal security agencies have failed to investigate this possibility, and their apathy could suggest that the highest level of security apparatus was completely okay with the looted money ending up exactly where it did.
Further links between the stealing of COVID-19 welfare money in Minnesota and the activities of Al-Shabaab can be noted in that the group’s activity surged after the pandemic, compared to years before, suggesting it received resources in a period coinciding with fraud schemes in Minneapolis. A report released by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED) Project revealed that Al-Shabaab’s terror activities increased significantly after the pandemic, with fatalities in Somalia for 2021 and 2022 being 3500 and 6500, respectively. The report noted that the fatality figure for 2022 was the highest since 2018. Similarly, Kenya’s Star newspaper noted that the terror group’s activities in Kenya surged in 2021 and accelerated in 2022 as compared to pre-pandemic years.
Therefore, Al-Shabaab appears to have received important resources during the pandemic while the rest of the world was cowering in fear of the deadly disease. For instance, since the group had been pushed from many urban centers across Somalia, and had lost the port of Kismayo where it previously collected revenue while engaging in charcoal trade, its main source of resources was remittances from foreign supporters and sympathizers. For the years leading up to the pandemic, the group’s terror activities had significantly reduced, making it plausible that the resources fueling its post-pandemic resurgence arrived from abroad.
Also, Somalia, unlike other places with terror groups, lacks oil or mineral resources from which armed groups can obtain resources for bankrolling their activities. To further support the hypothesis that Al-Shabaab gained resources for post-pandemic resurgence from the US, only the US initiated intensive money transfer programs in 2020, while other countries remained locked down with minimal cash transfer to citizens. Minnesota, a state known to host a large population of Somali Immigrants, dispensed large sums under pandemic relief programs, and this group is overrepresented among those who stole from social programs for unknown reasons.
Why Aren’t Perpetrators Charged Under Counterterrorism Financing Laws?
Democrats have played down views that taxpayers’ money channeled through Minnesota may have funded Al-Shabaab, arguing that the DoJ could have charged perpetrators using counterterrorism financing laws if it had evidence that the money went to terrorists. However, this stand ignores the reality that Washington did not institute any legal measures when money was flown to the Haqqani network in Afghanistan.
In fact, Washington has only rushed to distance itself from instances in which money from its supposed foreign aid programs ended up in the hands of terrorists and avoided taking strong measures against those involved. In the current case, the failure of investigators to prefer stronger charges under counterterrorism financing laws suggests that powerful forces in Washington could have planned this transfer of money to the East African armed group. Meanwhile, spirited fighting between Democrats and Republicans only works to conceal the truth, enabling the Pentagon and the State Department to cover their tracks.
*Groups and organizations banned in Russia
Simon Chege Ndiritu is a political observer and research analyst from Africa
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