A former police officer from Minnesota has come forward, stating that his bosses at the state Department of Human Services pressured him to change his findings regarding fraud in the state’s child care funding program.
Jay Swanson, who worked as a criminal investigator for DHS, also mentioned that many Somali refugees in East Africa were aware that Minnesota was seen as an ideal location for executing child care fraud schemes.
After Tim Walz assumed the governorship, Republican lawmakers argued that Swanson’s entire unit, responsible for investigating fraud, waste, and abuse, was disbanded.
During a hearing this week in front of the Minnesota House Anti-Fraud and Government Oversight Policy Committee, Swanson’s allegations posed a stark contrast to Walz’s recent “tough on fraud” claims, particularly after the FBI conducted raids on several child care facilities in the state.
Walz previously suggested that the federal investigation was a result of inconsistencies in state reports, a statement that officials from the Trump administration found absurd.
On the same day, Swanson delivered revealing testimony, claiming that he was instructed by superiors to delete findings related to an investigation conducted by the Minnesota Legislature.
He stated that such a request was unlawful.
Swanson’s work involved interviewing the operators and staff of the day care centers under scrutiny, and he discovered that it was a common understanding among Somalis in refugee camps that Minnesota was particularly lucrative for fraudulent activities.
“They believed they could try the scam in various states, but it was easiest here in Minnesota where the profits were highest,” he recounted.
This followed a 2017 investigation that prompted federal authorities to look into another child care facility, revealing “significant billing fraud.” The Salama Nursery School was located at the same Minneapolis address as the notorious “Quality Learning Center.”
This day care, noted for its misspelled name, was raided by the FBI recently and now appears to be closed.
The owner of Salama Child Care Center faced indictment in the same year, pleaded guilty in federal court in 2018, and received a two-year prison sentence, along with a $1.4 million restitution order.
As investigations continue, the Minnesota Legislature has asked the Office of Legislative Audit to carry out a “special review” of the Child Care Assistance Program.
In August 2018, when questioned by a legislative investigator, Swanson relayed that a DHS official told him to forward his responses to the investigator rather than the audit agency.
When he submitted his response for approval, he faced angry officials who burst into his office and demanded he take back his statements about wrongdoing.
“I told them I thought their request was illegal,” Swanson asserted in his testimony.
A few days later, the same official warned him about an impending “storm” coming their way.
Swanson later testified that “members of our unit faced harassment and intimidation from DHS officials aimed at overturning our findings.”
This intimidation extended to requests for over $90,000 for a consulting firm that lacked relevant experience, tasked to undermine the credibility of his findings.
Republican lawmakers claim these tactics to suppress fraud allegations persisted rapidly following Walz’s inauguration in 2019.
Critics have accused the Walz administration of obstructing significant investigations and tripping up whistleblowers aimed at exposing fraud.
Rep. Christine Robbins, who is vying for governor, stated during the hearing that the Office of Inspector General within Minnesota’s DHS had their search and surveillance capabilities stifled, and were barred from conducting investigations without supervisory consent.
Earlier this year, Walz backed out of his re-election bid amidst rising scandal concerns. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson has indicated that fraudsters may have misappropriated over $9 billion from taxpayers, a figure President Trump suggested could reach $19 billion.
Since 2022, the Justice Department has charged 98 individuals, predominantly of Somali descent, with 64 convictions arising from these fraud schemes.
Robbins noted that large-scale welfare fraud in Minnesota has been an ongoing issue since at least 2009.
In light of recent FBI raids on around 20 day care centers and other establishments in the state, despite attempts to conceal these findings under Walz’s administration, the governor, who previously dismissed allegations as “white supremacy,” issued a stern statement against fraud, as if he had been at the forefront of addressing the issue all along.
“If you commit fraud in Minnesota, you will face consequences. The collaboration between state and federal agencies helps catch criminals,” his statement read.
FBI Director Kash Patel and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin both criticized Walz for what they viewed as hypocrisy, emphasizing that their agencies were behind the investigations that Walz sought credit for.
Walz’s office was contacted for a statement regarding these developments.
