US Treasury investigates Minnesota's alleged terror financing

The US Treasury Department is investigating allegations that tax dollars from Minnesota may have been diverted to the Al-Shabaab militant group in Somalia, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

Bessent announced the probe days after President Donald Trump labeled Minnesota a “hub of fraudulent money laundering activity” under Democratic Governor Tim Walz. Trump’s comments followed unverified media reports circulated by several Republican lawmakers claiming that Al-Shabaab had benefited from fraud committed in Minnesota, Reuters reports.

“At my direction, the Treasury Department is investigating allegations that under the feckless mismanagement of the Biden Administration and Governor Tim Walz, hardworking Minnesotans’ tax dollars may have been diverted to the terrorist organization Al-Shabaab,” Bessent said.

Walz’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters. The governor has previously accused Trump of demonizing Minnesota’s Somali community.

On November 30, Walz addressed Trump’s allegations, noting that dozens of people of East African descent had been convicted in fraud-related cases connected to COVID-era government programs. “I will note, it's not just Somalis. Minnesota is a generous state. Minnesota is a prosperous state … But that attracts criminals. Those people are going to jail,” Walz said.

He added: “But to demonize an entire community on the actions of a few, it's lazy.”

Last month, Trump announced that he was terminating temporary deportation protections for Somalis living in Minnesota, claiming that “Somali gangs are terrorizing” residents in the state. The decision accelerates the end of a program initiated in 1991 under another Republican president.

The administration of Trump’s Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, had extended eligibility for Somali nationals through March 17, 2026. Most Minnesotans of Somali heritage are US citizens, and only 705 Somali-born individuals nationwide currently hold Temporary Protected Status (TPS), according to a report by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service.

By Vafa Guliyeva