NEWYou can now listen Fox News articles. HHS QUESTIONS MINNESOTA’S USE BILLIONS OF FEDERAL SOCIAL SERVICE FUNDS IN CONCERNS ABOUT FRAUD: REPORTWhen I sent my answer about what fraud trends I’m seeing at CCAP as I’d been directed, a senior DHS official was in my office, angry and red-faced. Swanson testified that the senior DHS official (Department of Human Services) told him to delete several paragraphs of my document. “I told the official that what they were telling was illegal. I told them that Minnesota law requires all state employees to cooperate and provide information to the OLA as requested. Few days later, I was told by the same official that he had just returned from the commissioner’s offices and they were sending my document to the OLA. Swanson testified that a consultant was paid $90,000 to label his assessments of fraud as made up. He testified that a consultant was paid $90,000 to label his assessments of fraud as made up.Swanson’s testimony Tuesday was heard the same day the FBI raided more than 20 Minneapolis childcare facilities as part of a sweeping federal fraud investigation.Included in the raid was the Quality Learning Center, a daycare made infamous by video blogger Nick Shirley’s December video showing the sign out front misspelled as “Quality Learing Center” and the facility empty.According to Swanson’s testimony, that business shared an address with Salama Childcare Center, the owner of which was indicted for theft and fraud in 2017. Swanson testified he was the investigator who led the investigation that led to the indictment. Swanson and his team had “a front-row seat” as they watched the fraud unfold. They also had regular contact with the perpetrators. “”Beginning 2017, we were shocked and dismayed by the response of senior DHS [Department of Human Services] officers to whom we reported fraud. In hindsight I can see that our team was witnessing the beginnings of a loosely organized criminal organization that was pillaging Minnesota’s public benefit system. He told the committee. Swanson claimed that “a few senior level DHS [Department of Human Services] employees who harassed our unit and abused it for trying to expose the sin of exposing a large amount of fraud in CCAP are still working at DHS today.” Swanson refused to give the names when asked by Kristin Robbins (chair of the committee) because he said there was an ongoing investigation. Federal officials will halt more than $10 billion in funding to 5 states over concerns about non-citizen benefit concerns: ReportSwanson also revealed that Minnesota is allegedly a hotspot for scammers. Swanson said that he heard from many owners and employees that they first heard of the daycare scam while in a refugee camp in Kenya. Swanson said that Minnesota was the easiest place to run a scam and where you could make the most profit. Swanson testified, “I was shown text conversation between owner of center and friend.” “The friend asked the owner, ‘how long are you going do the daycare fraud?’ The owner replied that he would like to buy some nice houses in Nairobi within the next year or two. The owner was receiving public assistance at the time. This text conversation happened while they were on vacation in Dubai. Swanson testified that “Childcare Fraud has been a prevalent issue in Minnesota since 2009”. In recent months, federal officials have focused on the issue. In a March order, Donald Trump called fraud cases “epidemics” and promised to take action. Trump’s executive orders also claimed that Minnesota Democratic leadership had provided “nonexistent oversight” of the issue. This claim was denied by the state’s Democratic Governor. Tim Walz denied. Despite initially suing Trump’s administration for freezing federal funds for Minnesota, Walz celebrated publicly Tuesday’s FBI raids. “Today’s FBI raids happened because our state agencies reported irregular behavior.” It’s the way the system should work, and we will continue to do so as long as fraudsters are around to be arrested,” Walz wrote in a post on X. Members of the Trump administration questioned Walz’s claims of collaboration. “Come again? The FBI, DOJ and our DHS [U.S. Department of Homeland Security] partner drafted and executed each search warrant today. Take credit for our work, while we weed out the fraud that is plaguing Minnesota during your governorship,” FBI director Kash Patel wrote on X on Tuesday. Minnesotan leaders also questioned Walz’s claims of being tough on fraud. “After the OLA report was released, the new Walz Administration took a closer look at it. They closed the criminal investigation division rather than speed up the criminal investigations. This allowed the frauds to continue,” Robbins said.CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD FOX NEWS APP. People were sanctioned because they overpaid. Then they kept billing the state. Robbins concluded that the Walz administration allowed fraud to flourish by stopping criminal investigations.
