Recent events may have pushed the Minnesota fraud story out of the national headlines, but the work goes on.
The next big event in the calendar will occur on Wednesday, January 21, at 9 am CST. The U.S. House of Representatives, Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance will hold a hearing on,
When Public Funds Are Abused: Addressing Fraud and the Theft of Taxpayer Dollars
All three scheduled witnesses have Minnesota connections. The star witness is Nick Shirley, the young YouTuber whose street videos tracking Minnesota fraud have become an international sensation. Shirley’s most recent production, posted last week, tracks fraud in the non-emergency medical transportation program. He is not a native Minnesotan, but he’s spent enough time here to merit honorary status.
Also on the agenda for Wednesday’s hearing are two other witnesses: (1) the operator of a legitimate autism clinic and (2) a former local cop and fraud investigator for state government.
It all should make for “must see” TV. Alas, I was not able to arrange my affairs to attend the hearing in person. I, too, will be watching on YouTube.
Among the Democrats serving on the Subcommittee is California Rep. Eric Swalwell. He’s running for governor of California amid accusations that he doesn’t actually live in the state.
Speaking of autism, the most recent federal fraud indictments (December 18), included Abdinajib Hassan Yussuf, age 27, the President and CEO of Star Autism Center LLC.
According to federal court filings, Yussuf is scheduled for a plea agreement hearing on February 2.
We have lots of upcoming activity scheduled in the original Feeding Our Future free-food scandal. A group of seven defendants (Nos. 63-69), centered around the former Feeding employee Ikram Mohamed, are scheduled to stand trial beginning April 20.
At this point, Ikram may be most famous for her appearance in that Keith Ellison audio recording of their December 2021 meeting.
One of the last remaining defendants in the Safari Restaurant group, Abdirahman Mohamud Ahmed (Defendant No. 14), is scheduled to stand trial beginning June 8.
Stay tuned!
