Minnesota probe finds no proof stolen money aided terrorists
by Steve Karnowski, The Associated Press
Wednesday March 13, 2019
ST. PAUL, Minn - Minnesota's legislative auditor said Wednesday that an investigation found no proof that money defrauded from a state child care program found its way to terrorist organizations overseas.
The Child Care Assistance Program provides federal money to low-income families to help them pay for child care while the parents work or attend school. Some daycare center operators allegedly overbilled the state for children who weren't really there. State and federal prosecutors have charged at least a dozen Minnesota residents, including several with Somali connections, and child care centers with defrauding the program in the past five years.
After the allegations surfaced, Republican lawmakers demanded stronger oversight to root out fraud in social service programs, while Somali community leaders and some Democratic lawmakers objected to the rush to judgment.
Nobles said his office interviewed Department of Human Services officials, program investigators, law enforcement officials and prosecutors. His office subpoenaed Stillman and interviewed him under oath in December. Investigators also reviewed court records from about two dozen terrorism-related cases in Minnesota. To obtain some information from prosecutors, investigators and law enforcement, they agreed not to disclose certain details and to protect the identities of individuals who provided the information, his report states.
"We are confident that given the history and expertise of investigating and prosecuting terror-related cases in Minnesota, if there were any allegations of CCAP fraud money going to terrorist organizations, investigators would certainly follow up and prosecutors would prosecute them for providing material support to terrorist organizations," the report states.
Human Services Commissioner Tony Lourey said in a response accompanying the report that his department is committed to fixing the problem of fraud in the child care program, and that it has asked the Legislature for money to beef up its oversight efforts.
Minnesota probe finds no proof stolen money aided terrorists
Lawmakers asked Legislative Auditor James Nobles to look into the issue after KMSP-TV reported last year that the Minnesota Child Care Assistance Program was defrauded out of as much as $100 million per year. The station, partly citing unnamed source