Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is pushing back against critics who say his administration should have done more to thwart what federal prosecutors have called a scheme to take advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to defraud the U.S. government of at least $250 million.
Walz said today (Thu) that the Minnesota Department of Education’s hands were tied by a court order for it to resume food program payments despite the state agency’s concerns. And he said the FBI asked the state to continue making payments while its investigation continued.
“We caught this fraud. We caught it very early. We alerted the right people,” Walz said. “We were taken to court. We were sued. We were threatened with going to jail. We stuck with it. We got the FBI out there and we have 48 people under indictment.”
Walz said his administration alerted the USDA during President Trump’s administration…but it was only under President Biden that the FBI began to act.
However, Walz said Education Commissioner Heather Mueller was ordered by the FBI not to say anything that could jeopardize the investigation.
Prosecutors say the defendants created companies that claimed to be offering food to thousands of kids, then sought reimbursement. ..but few meals were actually served.
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AP
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