Federal agents fanned out across parts of Minnesota on Monday, knocking on doors and questioning workers at businesses tied to a massive fraud investigation that has rocked the state and drawn national attention.
According to the New York Post, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents targeted locations suspected of being linked to a sprawling social-services fraud scheme as part of a broader effort to identify potential immigration violations connected to the case.
“DHS is on the ground in Minneapolis, going DOOR TO DOOR at suspected fraud sites,” the Department of Homeland Security wrote on X, alongside video showing agents entering Nicollet Tobacco & Vape in Burnsville, roughly 17 miles south of Minneapolis.
Investigators are examining allegations that as much as $9 billion may have been stolen through fraudulent use of federally funded state programs. The scheme is believed to involve sham businesses and nonprofits that billed for services that were never provided.
“Right now in Minneapolis, Homeland Security Investigations and ICE are on the ground conducting a large-scale investigation on fraudulent daycare and healthcare centers, as well as other rampant fraud,” DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to The Post.
Footage released by DHS showed two immigration officers entering the Burnsville store and speaking with a woman behind the counter.
The agents asked about a nearby building that appeared to be closed and whether anyone had been seen entering or leaving the property in recent days.
The employee told the officers she was not working the previous day and did not have any information to offer.
Another video, shared by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, showed the same pair of agents questioning a man outside a different business. In that clip, one officer pressed him about business relationships.
“Are there any subcontractors you guys deal with, say any other business partners you use for services, transportation, or anything like that?” the agent asked.
Noem described the operation as part of a broader crackdown.
“Homeland Security Investigations are on the ground in Minneapolis right now conducting a massive investigation on childcare and other rampant fraud,” she wrote in a post accompanying the video.
Authorities say the fraud scheme relied on newly formed businesses and nonprofit organizations that claimed to provide services such as housing assistance, food programs, daycare, or health care. Prosecutors allege those entities then submitted inflated or entirely false claims to state programs backed by federal funding.
Dozens of people have already been arrested in connection with the investigation. Many of those charged are Somali immigrants, according to officials familiar with the case.
The probe has become one of the largest fraud investigations in Minnesota’s history, prompting increased scrutiny of oversight failures and enforcement gaps in social-services programs.
Federal officials have not said how long the door-to-door operation will continue, but indicated the investigation remains active as agents work to uncover the full scope of the alleged fraud.
