A series of sprawling fraud schemes involving hundreds of millions of dollars stolen from Minnesota taxpayers — from COVID-relief programs to housing and autism services — have placed the state’s Somali community under a renewed, intense spotlight, raising uncomfortable questions about whether some who found refuge here are robbing their new neighbors blind.

These swirling fraud cases — and claims that some ill-gotten gains were diverted to the Somali terrorist organization Al-Shabaab — have now prompted a House investigation, a Treasury Department probe and mounting political pressure on state leaders, including Democrat Gov. Tim Walz, over why Minnesota failed to safeguard taxpayer money.

The fraud revelations, combined with a string of violent crimes and revived terror concerns involving Somali-linked defendants, have shaken public confidence and raised urgent questions about why Minnesota failed to stop the schemes sooner. The developments have also deepened public unease and revived long-standing questions about assimilation, oversight and public safety in Minnesota.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., told Fox News Digital that the fraud scandal represents "a catastrophic failure of oversight" under Walz and characterized some of the culprits involved as a "Somali criminal enterprise crew."

"People can focus on an ethnic group if they want, but the real issue is the lack of leadership and accountability in the state of Minnesota with Tim Walz and his administration. This wasn’t about Somalis; this was about government incompetence and lack of accountability," Emmer said. 

"We have been trying to sound the alarm on this fraud… for more than three years."

The centerpiece scandal is the Feeding Our Future case, where approximately $300 million intended to feed low-income children during the pandemic was siphoned away in what federal prosecutors describe as the largest pandemic-relief fraud scheme charged in U.S. history. Some of the shell companies and meal sites were operated by Somali Minnesotans, prosecutors say, though the alleged ringleader — Aimee Bock — is a White American.

That sprawling case has now grown to at least 78 defendants, according to the terrorists.

"Because there’s more than a billion dollars that’s been stolen and a significant portion of those dollars have been directed overseas, there are concerns this money could be either directly or indirectly funding terrorist organizations like al-Shabaab," Rasmusson told Fox News Digital.

Former Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek, who testified before Congress about Somali-American radicalization, said Minnesota ignored early warning signs once before.

"We really got a wake-up call in 2010-11," Stanek said. "Young people were going back to Somalia to participate in terrorist training camps and terrorist actions when they had no clear ties back to their culture. They were born here in the U.S. but felt a need or were radicalized to go back."

"Minnesotans had no idea what was even going on until the FBI and Joint Terrorism Task Force stepped in."

He said the threat has declined but not disappeared.

"I’m not saying it still doesn’t happen, because I know it does," he said.

Last year, Abdisatar Ahmed Hassan, 23, pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to ISIS after twice trying to travel to Somalia.

For many Minnesotans, the fraud cases are only the latest chapter in a longer pattern of violence and instability tied to small pockets of the Somali community. Public unease has also grown recently in response to a string of recent violent crimes tied to the community in the Twin Cities.

Somali national Abdimahat Bille Mohamedis, a man with two previous sex crime convictions, was charged this week with kidnapping and raping a woman at a hotel while on probation. 

In July, Qalinle Ibrahim Dirie, a Somali migrant, was jailed for 12 years for sexually assaulting a child. The case sparked fury when a local mosque gave a character-reference letter praising the pedophile's "good conduct" and urged leniency.

During a two-week stretch over the summer, a 15-year-old was killed in a mall shooting, while two high-school graduation ceremonies left a 49-year-old father with a head wound and a 19-year-old man injured. All three incidents involved members of the Somali-American community, according to immigrants in the state are hardworking and deeply patriotic toward the United States.

Jaylani Hussein, executive director of CAIR–Minnesota, told Fox News Digital that while the crimes are real and serious, he rejects the idea of collective blame for criminal activity. Hussein did not defend the crimes but placed their actions in the broader context of American immigrant history — drawing parallels to Irish and Italian communities once linked to organized crime.

"We have a history in this nation of identifying crime and associating it with communities — whether it’s the Italian mafia or Irish gangs," Hussein said. "Crime is an individual act. It’s an act of betrayal of our trust. When someone steals money from food at a school, they’re not stealing from anybody else — they’re stealing from their own community, from children who need it. Especially in the Somali-American community, which is still a poor community."

Rasmusson said the failures were so significant that Walz, who intends to run for a third term in 2026, may no longer be able to lead the state. 

"The Walz administration has failed and they’ve utterly failed to protect Minnesota taxpayers," he said. "And I think he’s lost the confidence of Minnesotans and the legislature in his ability to lead as governor of this state.

"And I think that he should recognize the position that he’s in and that it will be very challenging for him to have the confidence of Minnesotans again."