Walz's Minnesota: Million-Dollar SNAP Fraud Scheme In Governor's Backyard Sparks Outrage: 'Cruel Joke'

T. Tim Walz

In a shocking development that has left exactly zero people who have been paying attention to Minnesota even mildly surprised, authorities have uncovered a million-dollar food stamp fraud operation running right in Tim Walz's backyard, as if he was clueless.

The scheme, which authorities described as involving "a high degree of sophistication," apparently consisted of buying stuff at Sam's Club and Costco and then reselling it; truly the kind of criminal mastermindery that would make Ocean's Eleven look like a grocery run, and might actually eliminate Walz from suspicion for that reason.

Abdidwahid Mohamed, owner of the creatively named Minnesota Food Grocery LLC, allegedly racked up $1,141,082 in EBT payments using cards registered to other people. Investigators say they watched him make the purchases, followed him back to his store, and confirmed it all with surveillance and GPS. Many of the actual cardholders were either out of the country or insisted they never shopped at those stores. Shocking to think that such skulduggery exists in Minnesota.

"Mohamed received $1,141,082 in EBT payments," according to the complaint, which added that the plan "involved a high degree of sophistication or planning or occurred over a lengthy period of time."

Mohamed faces up to only 20 years in prison or a $100,000 fine if found guilty, penalties that in Minnesota probably come with a participation trophy and a strongly worded letter.

Minnesota Congressman Tom Emmer is demanding accountability from Governor Tim Walz amid the state's broader fraud woes, including a staggering $9 billion Medicaid probe. Emmer alleges Walz is either incompetent or complicit in the theft of taxpayer funds, highlighting what critics call a thriving culture of corruption. One thing for sure, if Walz is complicit, he's certainly not the mastermind.

"Minneapolis didn't become America's fraud capital by accident," Dalia al-Aqidi (a Republican running for Congress in Minnesota's 5th Congressional District against Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar) told Fox News Digital. "It was earned. This week, it's a grocer charged with running up $1.1 million in charges on other people's EBT cards. Next week, it will be something else, but the bill always lands on the Minnesotans who actually pay taxes."

Aqidi says that families tell her "affordability" is what "keeps them up night" and the "cruel joke is that the money is here to really make a difference for people."

"It is just lining the wrong pockets and paying for luxury cars and houses on the other side of the world. The fraudsters are only half the story. The other half are the people administering these programs, from the front lines all the way up to Ilhan Omar, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Governor Tim Walz. There has been talk about ending fraud in Minnesota for years. I am going to Washington to actually do it."

Two Republican lawmakers echoed the frustration. State Sen. Mark Koran called it "yet another example of why Minnesota is target number one for fraudsters."

"The sheer volume of welfare programs, combined with the inability of state agencies to detect obvious fraud is alarming. Once again, it was a private retailer, not the state, that uncovered this fraud scheme," Koran added, referencing the suspect being initially flagged by Walmart’s Global Investigation Team.

"All individuals involved, including the people that sold their EBT cards to Abdi Mohamed, have to be fully prosecuted," Koran said. People who come here to steal from hardworking Minnesota taxpayers deserve serious consequences.

State Sen. Michael Holmstrom kept it real: "This may be the laziest one yet."

"We had this guy, Abdi Mohamed, and he named his scam company 'Minnesota Food Grocery LLC.' They aren’t even trying, because they have been conditioned to believe there are no consequences."

The bust comes as part of a larger fraud scandal centered in Minnesota's social services programs, particularly within the Somali community, and a fresh Trump administration push against food stamp abuse.

"Since its inception, SNAP has helped our most vulnerable citizens afford the essential and nutritious food they need," Rollins and Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote in a Fox News op-ed in March. "At least, that is what the program is supposed to do.

"Over time, however, SNAP has been taken advantage of, allowing many to game the system and leaving millions of vulnerable Americans without healthy, nutrient-dense food options."

In related news, Minnesota officials continue to express bewilderment that when you create a massive, poorly supervised pile of free money, people occasionally treat it like a pile of free money. Walz could not be reached for comment, as he was reportedly busy checking the state couch cushions for another $9 billion.

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MN fraud suspect on the run, forfeits bond

Joe Thompson was the lead prosecutor that helped uncover the massive $250 million Feeding Our Future food fraud case tied to the state's Somali community. (AP Newsroom)

Abdirashid Ismail Said allegedly ran multiple Medicaid-funded agencies despite being barred after a prior fraud conviction.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) recaps his confrontation with Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison over alleged fraud in his state on 'Hannity.'

A man accused of orchestrating an $11 million Medicaid fraud scheme in Minnesota skipped a scheduled court appearance this week, prompting a warrant for his arrest, authorities said. Abdirashid Ismail Said, 50, failed to appear for a pre-trial hearing in Hennepin County, forfeiting his bond, according to FOX 9, citing the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement that his office is working with federal authorities to locate Said.

"A warrant has been issued for Said's arrest after he failed to appear for a pre-trial hearing," Ellison told the outlet. "My Medicaid Fraud Control Unit is working with federal law enforcement to locate Said and ensure he faces justice for the fraud he committed. This is a deeply frustrating setback, however, I remain committed to doing everything I can to hold Said and other Medicaid fraudsters accountable."

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison speaks at a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing on Capitol Hill. (Tom Brenner/AP Photo)

Said posted a $150,000 unconditional bond to avoid stricter conditions, including surrendering his passport, while a $50,000 conditional bond would have required it, according to FOX 9. Investigators also raised concerns about Said’s potential to flee, citing family ties abroad, according to FOX 9.

Prosecutors charged Said with racketeering and multiple counts of aiding and abetting theft by swindle in connection with an alleged scheme that defrauded Minnesota’s Medicaid program of nearly $11 million, according to the criminal complaint.

The complaint alleges Said carried out the scheme, from 2019 through 2023, by secretly operating multiple Medicaid-funded home health care agencies despite being barred from working with such programs following a prior fraud conviction.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz fields questions during a press conference about federal detention of children at the State Capitol building on Feb. 3, 2026, in St. Paul, Minnesota. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

Authorities said Said and his co-conspirators billed Medicaid for services that were never provided, weren’t properly recorded or were backed by fake paperwork. Investigators also allege the group billed for services that weren’t eligible for payment and charged more than they should have.

According to court documents, the scheme involved millions of dollars in fraudulent billing, including more than $4.6 million paid to one agency based on falsified documentation. Investigators also found nearly $1 million was billed for clients who denied receiving services, along with more than $300,000 in overbilling and more than $5.8 million in claims that were not documented or were fraudulently documented.

Court records show Said was convicted of Medicaid fraud in 2022, ordered to pay $77,000 and barred from working with any Medicaid-funded agency, a restriction prosecutors allege he later violated.

The case has raised new concerns about oversight of taxpayer-funded programs, as state leaders, including Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison, have faced mounting criticism over their handling of fraud in Minnesota.

The development comes amid broader concerns over fraud in Minnesota, including the sprawling "Feeding Our Future" case, in which prosecutors allege defendants created fake meal programs and fraudulently claimed more than $250 million in federal funds.

Former Acting U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson has suggested fraud across some programs could total billions of dollars, potentially reaching $9 billion.

State officials have faced ongoing questions about oversight of taxpayer-funded programs, with critics pointing to additional fraud cases involving Medicaid and welfare spending.

Ellison, whose office has brought multiple fraud cases, appeared before Congress earlier this year to address concerns about enforcement and oversight.

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Minneapolis' economy circles the bowl at a $203 million loss

Minneapolis city officials just dropped a bombshell preliminary report, claiming the feds' massive immigration crackdown (Operation Metro Surge) slammed the local economy with an estimated $203 million hit in January 2026 alone (and spilling into the roughly 11-week operation overall).

Leftist Mayor Jacob Frey called the damage "staggering" and firing off a direct challenge: "Was this operation, that has inflicted so much damage on our city that we can indeed calculate in real dollars, was it worth it?" 
Frey and other incompetent leaders are now begging for federal and state cash to bail them out, insisting the totals are likely lowball estimates and don't capture the full pain.

Breaking down the city's math on the wreckage: Small businesses and restaurants got hammered hardest, bleeding $81 million (some accounts nudge it to $82 million) in lost revenue. Fear kept customers away, foot traffic tanked, and entire stretches of the city turned into ghost towns.
Workers, illegal aliens and citizens alike, stayed home scared, costing $47 million in lost wages.
Throw in extras like $4.7 million+ in hotel cancellations stretching into summer, plus spikes in social services demands, police overtime, and other ripple effects, and you hit that eye-popping $203.1 million "impact" figure.
Congrats Dems; you really know how to make your screw ups hit record proportions.
Frey hammered the point home: "Families were torn apart, small businesses lost millions and students had their learning disrupted." He framed the whole surge, with up to 3,000 federal agents flooding neighborhoods, as something that "stoked fear and ultimately chaos in the communities that we love," adding, "The damage caused by this operation doesn’t disappear just because the operation is ending."
This fresh mess surfaced in mid-February 2026, straight from the city's own preliminary assessment, and got splashed across local media like the Star Tribune, KSTP, FOX 9, and more. 

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Important note: These are estimated economic damages from reduced activity, not a straight punch to the city's budget or tax haul, though it obviously drags those down indirectly. And no, this has zero connection to the 2020 George Floyd riots (which racked up far bigger regional damage numbers in the hundreds of millions to over half a billion). 

This one's tied squarely to the 2025-2026 ICE operation and its fallout in immigrant-heavy communities.

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BREAKING: Minneapolis Catholic school shooting, prompted huge law enforcement response

Alright, folks, strap in for another grim chapter in the saga of a world gone mad. A shooting rocked Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis on Wednesday, and the details are as gut-wrenching as you’d expect. Minnesota’s own Governor Tim Walz, never one to miss a chance to emote on X, chimed in with, "I've been briefed on a shooting at Annunciation Catholic School" and "I'm praying for our kids and teachers whose first week of school was marred by this horrific act of violence." Thanks for the prayers, Tim, but let's get to the meat of this.

The Minneapolis Police Department, via a city message, tried to calm the panic with, "there is no active threat to the community at this time" and "the shooter is contained.”  Fox 9 sources say the suspect, whose name is still under wraps, isn't just contained but dead. One less problem to deal with, I suppose. City officials added, "Stay away from the area to allow emergency personnel to help victims." Solid advice, because nothing screams chaos like rubberneckers clogging up a crime scene.

The visuals are straight out of a nightmare. Footage from the scene showed parents hustling their kids away from the school, probably wondering how "back to school" turned into "run for your life." Locals told Fox 9 they heard so much gunfire they thought someone was hammering shingles on a roof. That's right, gunshots so frequent they blend into the neighborhood soundtrack. A federal source, not one for sugarcoating, told the outlet that a "substantial number" of people were injured. No word on specifics, but that phrase doesn't exactly scream "minor incident."

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem jumped in, saying, "DHS is monitoring the horrific shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis." She added, "We are in communication with our interagency partners, and will share more information as soon as it becomes available. I am praying for the victims of this heinous attack and their families." 

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, not to be outdone in the "I’m on top of this" department, declared, "I’m monitoring reports of horrific violence in South Minneapolis." He's in touch with Chief O'Hara, and the city's emergency response team is apparently activated. "We will share more information as soon as we can. Please give our officers the space they need to respond to the situation," he said. 

The ATF's St. Paul office confirmed their agents are on the scene, responding to "an active shooter situation at Annunciation Church in Minneapolis." And President Trump, never one to sit out a crisis, posted on Truth Social: "I have been fully briefed on the tragic shooting in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The FBI quickly responded and they are on the scene. The White House will continue to monitor this terrible situation. Please join me in praying for everyone involved!" 

Monitoring, praying, briefing: sounds like D.C. has a thesaurus open to the crisis management page.

The school, part of Annunciation Church and serving K-8 kids, just kicked off the academic year on Monday, per Fox 9. Nothing says "welcome back" like dodging bullets, right? This is where we're at, schools turning into war zones while politicians and bureaucrats churn out the same tired script. 

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