ST. PAUL – Waste, fraud and abuse has been running rampant in Minnesota over the past six years. In hopes of addressing this ongoing problem, Minnesota House Republicans have sent a formal request to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, urging the Department of Justice to launch a fraud investigation in Minnesota.
“In the past six years under Governor Walz we have seen increasing amounts of fraud, and he is finally starting to notice,” said State Representative Paul Torkelson (R-Hanska). “But his answer is to have his administration oversee the problem, which is like asking the proverbial fox to guard the henhouse.”
Torkelson said there have been many cases of documented mismanagement and significant losses to fraudsters. Among those uncovered in Minnesota, to date:
- Feeding Our Future: $250 million
- Childcare/CCAP: $150 million
- Childcare assistance: $100 million
- Medicaid: $50 million
- Frontline workers: $45 million
- Sober homes: $28 million
- Minnesota autism centers: $2 million
“We need a fresh set of eyes in Minnesota to review this problem and take action as appropriate,” Torkelson said. “My goal is to reduce the size of agencies who have been unresponsive to their duties of stopping this fraud.”
This year, the Minnesota House has also created a committee that is tasked with bringing more fraudulent activities taking place in this state to light. Torkelson said it has recently been focusing on the lack of oversight of taxpayer-funded grants to state nonprofits.