In an explosive 42-minute video posted to X, right-leaning independent video journalist Nick Shirley exposed what he described as a billion-dollar scam fraudulently funneling taxpayer dollars into Somali-run businesses and even potentially funding a terrorist group.
Along with a passionate investigation led by “David,” a Minneapolis-based business-owner who has spent years sorting through local paperwork, Shirley dove into the social service schemes designed to support Somali-run business, with some funding allegedly landing in possession of the Al-Shabbab terrorist group.
“We uncovered over $110,000,000 in ONE day,” wrote in the X post Shirley, “We ALL work way too hard and pay too much in taxes for this to be happening, the fraud must be stopped.”
According to their research, between $7 and $10 billion over the past several years have been appropriated to shady businesses like “Future Leading Early Learning Center” and “Multicultural Home Care.” In the past, Shirley amassed a cult following online for his raw, ‘man-on-the-street’ style interviews particularly with the influx of immigrants during the Biden administration infamously filming at the Roosevelt Hotel in Times Square and at the Texas border.
Shirley currently has over 722,000 followers on TikTok and 865,000 followers on Instagram, along with his YouTube content and popular podcast The Nick Shirley Show. (RELATED: Barnes PAC Spent Heavily on Overhead, Gave Far Less to Candidates Than Peers)
During the investigations, Shirley and his team confronted a number of lawmakers including Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN-05) and Gov. Tim Walz (MN-D), both of whom declined to comment. The video asserts that this may be one of the largest scams in the history of the American government, with over 100 million views as of the writing of this article. Shirley and his team allege that they have uncovered billions of forged receipts directed toward Somali social services amounting to more than the GDP of the country of Somalia.
Shirley’s co-investigator ‘David’ launched his own research after noticing several Somali-run businesses labeled as ‘childcare centers’ were established near his work, but never had any children. He noticed the same trend with Somali-run transportation called “non-emergency” transportation services for routine doctor and dentist appointments that never seemed to have any passengers.
David learned that there were over 1000 “non-emergency” transportation businesses operating for the Somali community and receiving public funding with no governmental oversight. Through his research and legislative contacts, he discovered that several care centers listed multiple businesses at the same address to be eligible for additional funding. He claims that many of the fraudulent businesses are able to apply for social service funding through Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), which is a joint federal- and state-sponsored scheme, which pays care providers to support dependents for families with low incomes.
In the video, behind the blacked-out windows, locked doors, and apprehensive owners of each subsequent business, was a suspicious paper trail of millions of dollars. At several points during the investigation, the crew alleges they were followed. David says Human Services and lawmakers like Gov. Walz are to blame for indulging this duplicitous behavior to appease the insular Somali community for their votes.
After a Minnesota congressional hearing, Shirley and his crew presented the evidence to one lawmaker that said they were working to address rampant fraud. (RELATED: AI Critics Secretly Bankrolled Newsroom Coverage to Skew Public Perception)
“I don’t think anyone is enabling fraud to happen,” said Rep. Emma Greeman (DFL) of District 63B, “We are dealing with the issue of how to keep fraudsters out of our public payment.” She insisted that the bipartisan committees held ten congressional hearings to address the fraud and that Republicans were more interested in ‘a narrative’ than solving the issue.
