Omar’s Inner Circle Linked to Minnesota’s $1 Billion Welfare Fraud Scandal

Members of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s inner circle personally profited from the $1 billion welfare fraud scandal that has placed Minnesota’s Somali community under federal scrutiny, according to a New York Post investigation.

The massive fraud scheme, centered on pandemic-era child nutrition programs, has exposed connections between Omar and key figures now convicted of defrauding federal programs of approximately $250 million in COVID-19 aid intended to feed children during school closures.

Salim Ahmed Said, co-owner of Safari Restaurant where Omar held her 2018 congressional victory celebration, was convicted in March for his role in the scheme. According to Justice Department prosecutors, Said diverted funds meant to feed schoolchildren toward personal luxuries, including a $2 million Minneapolis mansion and extravagant shopping habits that included $9,000 monthly sprees at Nordstrom.

The funding mechanism for the program originated with the 2020 MEALS Act, legislation that Omar introduced and which passed with bipartisan support. While the congresswoman has not been directly implicated in the fraud, her connections to key figures and institutions involved in the scandal have raised questions about oversight.

Much of the fraudulent activity was channeled through the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, which Omar appeared in a promotional video supporting. The nonprofit has since been shuttered following federal investigations.

In a CNN appearance this week, Omar suggested the fraud stemmed from hasty implementation of pandemic relief programs. “When you have these kind of new programs that are designed to help people, you’re oftentimes relying on third parties to be able to facilitate,” Omar said. “A lot of the COVID programs that were set up were set up so quickly that a lot of the guardrails did not get created.”

Further connecting Omar’s circle to the scandal, Guhaad Hashi Said, a Democratic activist and former Omar campaign official who worked on her 2018 and 2020 campaigns as an “enforcer” overseeing Somali community voter turnout, pleaded guilty in August to operating a fraudulent food distribution site called Advance Youth Athletic Development. Federal investigators found he falsely claimed to serve 5,000 meals daily to children while pocketing millions.

The scale of the fraud has drawn national attention, with at least 78 defendants charged as of November in what investigators describe as the largest pandemic relief fraud scheme in the United States. The Small Business Administration continues investigating a network of Somali groups in Minnesota allegedly tied to the scandal, while the House Oversight Committee has opened an investigation into Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s oversight role.

The controversy has become politically charged, with President Donald Trump criticizing Omar and Minnesota’s Somali community this week. “These Somalians have taken billions of dollars out of our country,” Trump told reporters, calling for Omar to be “thrown the hell out of our country.”

When news of the fraud broke, Omar condemned the scheme, telling local Minnesota media: “The alleged fraud scheme orchestrated by Feeding Our Future is reprehensible. Using the guise of feeding children to funnel millions of dollars toward extravagant expenses is abhorrent, and anyone who participated in this scheme must be held accountable.”

The scandal highlights broader concerns about oversight of pandemic-era relief programs, which distributed trillions in assistance with sometimes limited verification mechanisms. Minnesota’s case has become particularly notable for both the scale of fraud and the political dimensions surrounding it.