Vance Announces $19 Billion Fraud Discovered in Minneapolis, Suggests California Investigation to Follow

Vice President JD Vance announced Friday that California may be the next target of major federal fraud investigations, while revealing that fraud discovered in the Minneapolis area has “probably been $19 billion at least” since the administration began its investigations in the Twin Cities.

Speaking at an event in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, Vance detailed the administration’s expanding efforts to combat widespread fraud involving taxpayer dollars. The vice president took questions after delivering a speech focused on the economy, public safety, and election integrity.

“We know there’s a lot of fraud in California, and we’re trying to get to the bottom of exactly what it looks like and what we’ve done in the Trump administration,” Vance told reporters in response to a question from Fox News Digital.

His comments align with President Donald Trump’s January statement that “the fraud investigation of California has begun,” in which the president claimed the state was “more corrupt than Minnesota.”

Vance explained that the administration is taking “the first national look at the way the American people have been defrauded over many, many years,” adding that President Trump has “really empowered” these efforts.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has pushed back against these allegations. In February, a spokesperson for Newsom defended the state’s fraud protection measures, stating that California’s Franchise Tax Board has blocked billions in fraud in recent years.

“Since taking office, he’s blocked over $125 billion in fraud, arrested criminal parasites leaching off of taxpayers and protected taxpayers from the exact kind of scam artists Trump celebrates, excuses and pardons,” the spokesperson said, adding that many programs being scrutinized are federally administered rather than state-run.

The administration’s fraud-fighting initiatives began taking shape in January when Vance announced an interagency task force within the Department of Justice specifically targeting fraud. Reports suggest the vice president will soon lead a new task force established through a Trump executive order.

During Friday’s event, Vance highlighted the ongoing situation in Minnesota as an example of the scale of the problem. “We think that there’s probably been $19 billion at least to fraud just committed in Minneapolis in the surrounding areas,” he explained.

Federal investigators in Minnesota launched a probe in 2022 into the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, which prosecutors later identified as a central player in what became one of the largest COVID-19 relief fraud cases uncovered. As the investigation progressed, authorities said they discovered approximately $250 million in fraudulent claims, resulting in 78 people being charged in the alleged scheme. Prosecutors have suggested the broader fraud linked to related programs could total as much as $9 billion.

Vance emphasized that the issue goes beyond just financial losses. “It’s not just the American people being defrauded. It’s not just your tax dollars that are being stolen out of your wallet and given to fraudsters,” he said. “It’s the fact that the services we need to deliver to needy people are not getting delivered because they’re going to fraudsters.”

The vice president specifically mentioned a daycare center in Minnesota called “Quality Learning Center” – where “learning” was misspelled as “learing” on the establishment’s sign – as an example of suspicious operations allegedly receiving government funds.

“When you have a Somali fraudster come into the United States illegally and then set up a school to collect tax dollars, and the name of the school is the Quality Learning Center, but when they put the sign up, they take the ‘n’ out. So, it says ‘Quality Learing Center,'” Vance remarked. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to send my kids to a school where they can’t spell ‘learn.’ That group was getting millions of dollars from the American taxpayer.”

The organization has since closed its doors following increased scrutiny. The broader fraud investigations continue as the administration works to quantify the full extent of the problem across multiple states, with California potentially next in line for intensive examination.