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The Trump administration has cited allegations of fraud to justify expanding federal law enforcement activity in Minnesota. Federal authorities, including the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, have alleged widespread fraud at Somali-owned child care centers across the state.
Minnesota is home to the largest Somali population in the United States, and most of the roughly 70 defendants charged in the case are of Somali descent.
Governor Tim Walz announced on Monday that he will not seek re-election due to growing criticism over a scandal, as reported by CNN. Walz then wrote on X/Twitter that he had “decided to step out of the race and let others worry about the election while I focus on the work.”
Feeding Our Future is a nonprofit that prosecutors say falsely claimed to provide meals to children in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. Beginning in 2022, federal authorities charged dozens of people connected to the organization, most of them of Somali origin.
In March, a federal jury found nonprofit founder and executive director Aimee Bock and Salim Said guilty for their roles in a $250 million fraud scheme tied to a government-funded children’s nutrition program. Said was a co-owner of a local restaurant that supplied meals under the program.
Prosecutors alleged that Bock and Said used proceeds from the scheme to purchase property, luxury vehicles, and international travel.
Bock, who is not Somali, was the subject of federal raids on her home and offices and was convicted on seven federal charges, including bribery. She has not yet been sentenced.
Said, who is also awaiting sentencing, was convicted on 20 federal charges, including bribery and money laundering. Both face potential sentences of up to 30 years in prison, according to a CNN affiliate.
Meanwhile, amid the rising fraud allegations, a pair of companies owned by Tim Mynett, the husband of U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), saw their reported valuations rise sharply in recent years, increasing more than twentyfold in less than a year, according to congressional financial disclosures. The growth has prompted questions about how the companies achieved such rapid gains.
Financial filings related to Omar’s assets indicate a significant increase in the reported value of Mynett’s business holdings since 2020, Fox News reported.
Omar reported a sharp increase in the value of Rose Lake Capital LLC, a firm co-founded by her husband, Tim Mynett, according to her 2024 congressional financial disclosure.
Omar listed the value of Rose Lake Capital at between $5 million and $25 million in 2024. In her 2023 disclosure, she reported the company’s value in the lowest category, between $1 and $1,000. Congressional disclosure forms require lawmakers to report assets in broad ranges rather than precise figures, but even under the most conservative assumptions, the reported valuation reflects a dramatic year-over-year increase.
Rose Lake Capital’s website describes the firm as facilitating work in deal-making, mergers and acquisitions, banking, politics, and diplomacy.
The company has listed several high-profile figures among its personnel, including Adam Ereli, a lobbyist who previously served as U.S. ambassador to Bahrain during the Obama administration. Archived versions of the website also indicate past involvement by former Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), as well as former Democratic National Committee officials William Derrough and Alex Hoffman.
Mynett, Omar’s third husband, co-founded Rose Lake Capital in 2022.
Amid increased public scrutiny of Omar over large-scale fraud investigations in Minnesota and questions about whether she could have benefited indirectly, Rose Lake Capital has removed the names and biographies of its team members from its website. It is not clear whether any of the previously listed individuals remain affiliated with the firm.
Another company connected to Omar’s financial disclosures, ESTCRU LLC, also reported a sharp increase in valuation. The winery, registered in Santa Rosa, was listed as being worth between $1 million and $5 million in Omar’s 2024 disclosure, compared with an estimated value of $15,000 to $50,000 the previous year.
The couple’s growing wealth comes as state and federal authorities uncover vast fraud networks in Minnesota, many tied to Somali-run nonprofits in Omar’s district.
