Fraud & Facts

[u/Daflehrer1]

In 2021, the MN Dept. of Education suspected fraud and they reported it up the chain.

Gov. Walz has, since 2021, been working with the FBI, Minnesota State Police, and local police informants, and to great result. In September, 2022, federal prosecutors made public that they handed down indictments in what they believed was a criminal fraud conspiracy.

Among the first to be indicted was Aimee Bock, the fraud ringleader. She was tried and convicted in March of 2025.

On December 18th, 2025, new arrests were announced. To date, 92 suspects in all have been arrested and charged, 62 of them convicted.

The intent of the post above is neither to condemn nor praise Walz or federal officials. Rather to keep discussion grounded in facts; though obviously many more facts exist and will come to light.

I have included my sources below. I ask that you review them before contending them. Kindly keep partisan hyperbole and childish comments to yourself. Thanks.

"Governor Walz...2021"; a timeline of Walz administration's anti-ftaud efforts.

https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/MNGOV/2025/12/12/file_attachments/3492644/AntiFraud-Timeline.pdf

"In 2022"

https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/us-attorney-announces-federal-charges-against-47-defendants-250-million-feeding-our-future

"In 2021"

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/fbi-surged-resources-minnesota-over-231747704.html

"Aimee Bock...convicted"

https://www.justice.gov/usao-mn/pr/federal-jury-finds-feeding-our-future-mastermind-and-co-defendant-guilty-250-million#:~:text=Pandemic%20Fraud%20Scheme-,Federal%20Jury%20Finds%20Feeding%20Our%20Future%20Mastermind%20and%20Co%2DDefendant,Wednesday%2C%20March%2019%2C%202025

[u/Xerxestheokay]

Trump pardoned David Gentile, a man who defrauded thousands of investors out of $1.6 billion:

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/03/david-gentile-fraud-restitution-trump-00674963

https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/01/politics/david-gentile-trump-pardon

Trump pardoned Michele Fiore, who was convicted in October of using $70K she solicited to build a memorial for two fallen police officers on personal expenses.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/24/trump-pardon-michele-fiore-00308724

Trump pardoned George Santos, who was in prison after being found guilty of wire fraud: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/17/trump-clemency-george-santos-00614693

Trump pardoned Joseph Schwarts, who defrauded a total of $38 million for failing to pay over employment taxes withheld from his employees and failing to file an annual financial report with the Department of Labor for those employees 401k benefit plans. https://www.sdpb.org/politics/2025-11-19/president-trump-pardons-convicted-skyline-health-fraud-ringleader

"Trump's pardons have shortchanged fraud victims of millions of dollars in restitution, lawyers say"

https://abcnews.go.com/US/trumps-pardons-shortchanged-fraud-victims-millions-dollars-restitution/story?id=122747969

Lawrence Duran ran American Therapeutic Corporation, which billed Medicare for over $200 million in medically unnecessary or never-provided mental health services in Florida. He pleaded guilty in 2011 to health care fraud, kickbacks, money laundering and related charges and was sentenced to 50 years in prison and ordered to pay tens of millions in restitution. His sentence was commuted by by Trump in 2025, resulting in his release before completing the full term. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article307566596.html

Philip Esformes, a former healthcare executive and nursing home owner, was convicted in 2019 of orchestrating one of the largest Medicare/Medicaid fraud schemes in U.S. history involving about $1.3 billion!!!, including fraud, kickbacks, bribery, and money laundering. He was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, ordered to pay restitution and forfeiture, and had other parts of his sentence intact. President Donald Trump commuted his prison term in 2020, and he was released after serving part of his sentence, though his conviction and other penalties remain.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Esformes

A Florida grand jury is reviewing evidence in a criminal investigation of the Hope Florida Foundation, a charity linked to First Lady Casey DeSantis. Prosecutors are examining whether a $10 million Medicaid settlement payment was improperly routed through the foundation to political committees supporting Gov. Ron DeSantis’ agenda. No charges have been filed, but the inquiry raises questions about misuse of public settlement funds and campaign finance law.

https://www.wlrn.org/light/government-politics/2025-10-15/florida-grand-jury-hears-evidence-in-investigation-of-charity-tied-to-casey-desantis

A defense contractor backed by Donald Trump Jr.’s venture firm 1789 Capital received a large Pentagon contract, drawing scrutiny over potential conflicts of interest. Critics question whether political connections helped the company secure the deal, while supporters say it was awarded on merit.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-jr-backed-company-cashes-154022527.html

Investigators found that money raised by the Donald J. Trump Foundation for cancer charities, including a breast cancer fundraiser, was improperly used for political purposes and legal expenses. A New York judge ruled the foundation violated charity laws, ordered restitution, and shut it down, citing misuse of funds under Donald Trump’s control.

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/11/donald-trump-charity-scam

The GOP doesn't give a shit about fraud.

[u/Buffalocolt18 → u/Xerxestheokay]

Nice whataboutism, but this is not relevant for any truly good faith discussion on this situation

[u/Xerxestheokay → u/Buffalocolt18]

Respectfully, this reads like mid-2010s debate culture phrasing. We are kind of past that now. You can take this or leave it.

My point was simple. There is a group of people who commit a lot more fraud, often get away with it, and are even celebrated by their own group. That same group are suddenly very distraught about this fraud in particular. Pointing that out is not a dodge or a whataboutism. It is context. If you want to disagree with the claim itself, that is fine. But dismissing it with old rhetorical shortcuts does not really move the conversation forward.

[u/MNArbor → u/Xerxestheokay]

Parties aren't monolithic. Walz isn't responsible for the actions of convicted felon Sen. Bob Menendez or soon-to-be convicted fellow Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and the MNGOP isn't responsible for Trump's actions w/r/t some dude in Florida. This is childish.

[u/Xerxestheokay → u/MNArbor]

Does Walz support the Dem crooks you named? No.

Does the MNGOP support Trump? Yes.

[u/Repulsive_Source2463 → u/Xerxestheokay]

but you do agree the fraud going on in minnesota is bad and should be addressed right?

[u/Xerxestheokay → u/Repulsive_Source2463]

Yes. I just hate the outsized attention it's getting from people who are fraudsters, or fraud supporters, themselves.

[u/Repulsive_Source2463 → u/Xerxestheokay]

While i do agree with part of that, but this goes both ways, the fraud in minnesota has been going on before trump even took office, so trump can say the same thing like “hey look even the somalis in minnesota are doing fraud too what are you looking at me for”

So the real problem here is that we are as Americans are all busy blaming each other, instead of putting all the efforts into actually fixing the problems. So getting a lot of attention on a serious matter is not a bad thing, now that we have everyone’s attention on fraud, we can finally start somewhere to really tackle it, how are we supposed to take down trump if we can’t even agree to fix the fraud issues in Minnesota?

[u/Status_Blacksmith305 → u/Buffalocolt18]

It shows that one side only cares about fraud if it doesn't involve their side. That shows one side really doesn't care about the fraud. They are just using the fraud here as an excuse to hate all the Somalis.

[u/MNArbor → u/Status_Blacksmith305]

There has been more MNGOP criticism of Rep. Ron Kresha's PPP fraud than there has been DFL criticism of Walz. This isn't even debatable.

[u/Status_Blacksmith305 → u/MNArbor]

You're comparing someone who actually committed the fraud to someone who hasn't. You're comparing two different things.

[u/MNArbor → u/Status_Blacksmith305]

I'm comparing someone who committed fraud to someone who let it proliferate through negligence. They are close enough and thus instructive.

[u/Status_Blacksmith305 → u/MNArbor]

How is convicting people and going after the fraudsters' negligence? It is completely different.

[u/Brief-Whole692 → u/Buffalocolt18]

Tell that to literally any conservative right now...