Federal officials are executing search warrants in the Minneapolis area tied to a fraud investigation, the Department of Homeland Security and a Justice Department spokesperson said Tuesday morning.
“Today, the FBI with federal, state and local law enforcement is involved in court-authorized law enforcement activity as part of an ongoing fraud investigation,” the Justice Department spokesperson told CNN.
Twenty-two federal search warrants were executed in Minnesota Tuesday morning, a federal official told CNN. Most of the locations appear to be businesses that are recipients of Medicaid funding, including child care facilities, according to CNN affiliate KARE, citing unnamed sources.
The raids were not connected to immigration, the federal official said, but Homeland Security Investigations posted on social media that it was part of the operation. HSI is a unit within Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Allegations of fraudulent use of federal funding by Somali businesses have been the subject of a federal investigation and a fiery congressional hearing last month. Gov. Tim Walz dropped his reelection campaign in response to the scandal.
This is a developing story and will be updated.